Seth Conley's Journal Entry 1

*This is a mini series that I've chose to do with all the "end of times" nonsense going around. It is about a zombie apocalypse. I will still be doing my poetry, but I thought it would be fun to give this a try. Hope you enjoy my little experiment in story writing! :)*

21 December 2012

I am trembling as I attempt to put into writing the events that have happened today. Sheer fear is coursing through my veins this very instant. I cannot sleep, for the safety of myself as well as for my two children. The only reason I am jotting this down is so that there could be some remembrance of my story, if hope is even to get as far as to stop the chaos around me.
My name is Seth Conley, and I live outside the city of Detroit, Michigan. I live in a fairly quiet community, since most of the residents are elderly, and my wife Janet and I thought it would be a great area to raise our kids. Our boy's name is Steven, and our precious little girl is Jennifer. I worked in the city as a lawyer for Fitzpatrick's Law Firm. My wife worked as a secretary for Scholaresis, a company that helps people with planning for community college courses.
Janet's mother had recently became very ill, so Janet flew all the way to Liverpool to aid her mother, though now I regret ever letting her go. It was a Friday, and I was just about to drop my children off at school. The sky was somewhat cloudy, and snow was forecasted for today, but it wasn't stopping Gregory Huffman, my 66 year old neighbor, from tending his hedges. Jennifer was excited for her last day of school party, while Steven was glad to get his first semester of finals over with.
The awful events that followed will scar my heart, mind, and any respect I will ever have for human kind. The ground began to shake at such a profound rate that I thought the world was going to split apart. I ran upstairs to grab my children, who were struggling to get into a safe position. Was it an earthquake? The possibility of one here was close to nothing. The worst was yet to come though, as a green gas smashed all the windows of the house, and it was odd because it seemed like it went as fast as it had come.
I had told my kids to hold their breathes when this happened, and I have no doubt as I'm sitting here without a clue about how things came to pass that it prevented them from becoming those zombies that seemed to jump out of the horror stories and into reality.
Yes zombies. I have went over the idea numerous times, and I have come to the conclusion that the wretches that I saw outside my windows were indeed the undead. I believe this because my first encounter with one was the remains of Greg.
The kids and I were huddled in Jennifer's room. The window next to her bed could see into Gregory's lawn. I looked out to see if he had been alright after the previous events, and what I saw will forever haunt my mind. He was on the ground struggling with an invisible enemy. I thought he was having a seizure, so I was just about to go downstairs and assist him. I am so fortunate that I looked at the scene just a little longer.
His skin began to crack, and thereto his blood ran down his skin. His body began to pale as well as rot (much to my amazement). The man had lost the battle for his body, and I would've presumed that it was radiation poisoning, but then something alerted me that it was something of the supernatural. His eyes were gone, the reason I do not know, but they were replaced by a faint red glow. The corpse arose from the ground, and seemed to take in the surroundings around him. I was dumbfounded, and as I kept looking it must have felt my glance. Those red lights peered at me, and I swear I could've died right there. It grabbed the dropped trimmers near it, and made its way to our house.
I was running like a maniac. What could I do? He was after us! I told my kids to come with me into our bedroom. Behind the bed was a shotgun that I had purchased in case of emergencies (there were many thugs in Detroit). As I was loading my shotgun, I could hear the front door break, and then eventually steps coming up the stairs. I told Steven and Jennifer to get under the bed, and I told them to not get out for anything. They were scared, but I saw death as something more to fear than fear itself.
I waited there for a moment, ready to blow the head off the fowl beast when it came into the room. Could it smell our non rotting flesh? Or was it more blood? Should I aim for the head or heart? I then remembered my Janet. Oh how I hoped that she was not caught up in this mess!
My thoughts of Janet quickly dispersed with the sighting of the zombie. He was more gruesome in person than he had been afar. When it saw me it gave out a great shrill, as if Satan himself had been unmasked, and it charged at me with the trimmers. I trembled as I shot the first bullet, and it hit him in the shoulder, making him drop his weapon. Right when it was going to grab me I fired a shot into his right temple, and the beast was slain.
It did not move, but I was not going to wait and see if it did. I got my kids from out of the bed. Steven was shocked, and little Jennifer was crying. I put my hand against her mouth so that we wouldn't get anymore unwanted guests. I grabbed my phone and pulled us to the basement. I hid us behind the staircase, and that is where I am writing. The notepad is Steven's for school (they had their backpacks on when this happened). Right now Jennifer is asleep on my lap, and her brother on my other side against the basement wall. I have not heard a sound upstairs, but I will not attempt to tempt fate.
I doubt if I'll ever sleep tonight. I do not know how many more there are (it is an enemy without a known nature!), but until then we'll sit here until rescue comes. Tomorrow I will try to contact Janet, and see if she is alright.