The Group Project

~Chapter 5~

I was awoken by Bea shaking me and saying our names. I felt a strong push and was met with the sound of music still playing at full volume. I groggily opened my eyes with an enormous headache. I guess I had passed my limit last night because the next second I hurriedly rose to my feet and over to the corner to throw up in an empty trashcan. After retching a few times Bea interrupted me and called me over, "MARS HOLD IT DOWN AND GET OVER HERE! IT'S AN EMERGENCY." I took a couple of seconds to catch my breath before turning to see all three of them huddled around the radio looking half asleep. I walked over to my sleeping area and grabbed my phone, water and sat down checking the time. 11:59 am.

"What's up? And can you turn down the music a little, I have a serious headache." I asked while resting my arms and head on my knees. 

Bea started to speak, "You'll wanna hear what's after; before this song started there was some man saying there would be a broadcast at noon and we can't miss it. So rise and shine." She handed me some coffee and I accepted it, looking at her with wide eyes. She had a wide eyed grin and her excitement was palpable. 

"Are you serious?! Someone's broadcasting?" I carefully put my coffee down, hurriedly turned the radio up as far as it would go, and asked "Did they say who they were?"

Before she could answer she was cut off by the sound of the song ending abruptly and static buzzing for the next few moments. I carefully sat it down and looked at the others as we waited for a broadcast to begin. Jon and Gannon stared at the radio while Bea carefully drank her coffee. I slowly picked mine up as we listened to the static. It suddenly erupted to life with a mans voice, startling me and causing me to spill some on my arm. I shook off the hot coffee and listened to the man speak. 

 "Good morning, survivors! This is Zephyr Atlas, your friendly neighborhood broadcaster, coming to you live from Lynn Dixie Military Fort. Can you believe it's already been six days since the world turned upside down? Time flies when you're dodging danger, am I right?" 

He let out a chuckle before continuing. "But let's get down to business, folks. This is our first broadcast and we've learned quite a few things in these past five days of the apocalypse. For starters, we've sadly estimated that over half of the world's population has been affected by a mysterious mutation, turning a large majority of people into ravenous creatures resembling zombies that we here call, Savages. With their empty white eyes and insatiable hunger, they're a force to be reckoned with, that's for sure."

The four of us exchanged quick glances, Bea looking on in disbelief while Jon was nervously covering his mouth with his hands. I looked over to see Gannon staring wide eyed at radio, his hands supporting his jaw as he looked lost in thought. The mans voice continued and our attention was drawn back to the radio. 

"Now, I need to stress this, folks. These mutants aren't your run-of-the-mill sci-fi "zombies." They're different and you need to be cautious. They have seemingly infinite stamina, moving at a slow speed walking pace, and they'll lunge at you when they get close. Oh, and here's the kicker—they'll keep coming at you even after you've pumped them full of lead. We've only found out that total destruction or decapitation of the head works. We've also found that they can be temporarily distracted by light and sound, a couple seconds or so. They also appear human, the only distinctive features being their white eyes, jagged movements and their absence of a white patch. Now, let me tell you about 'The Boom'. It happened the same day the mutants appeared. Asteroids rained down from the sky, leaving it illuminated in a blue ethereal glow. The sound was deafening as they entered the atmosphere and crashed, but it was a blessing in disguise, there were very few impacts in our immediate area. It drew the attention of the Savages, allowing survivors like me to flee while they were distracted by the booming sounds and lights. It also decreased the population of the savages in town, which is a blessing. That event is the only reason I survived and was able to make it to Lynn Dixie Military Fort. It's a day I'll never forget."