Doomsday

"It's just another average day."

Brooke passed by a newly painted Honda Civic and switched lanes to be in front of it. The new scent of her car freshener filled her nostrils with the beautiful smell of cinnamon rolls. The wheels of her red Toyota Corolla rolled furiously through the streets, crushing all the tiny rocks in it's wake. The angsty young adult glanced through her slightly tinted windows and centered her eyes on the rearview mirror to see the dark Civic driving close behind her. Normally she wouldn't mind taking her time and letting another car drive ahead of her, but this situation calls for her to make as much haste as possible. The rearview mirror was checked once more before Brooke increased the pressure her black Vans put on the gas pedal. The car roared with energy and within moments the Civic disappeared from sight.

Please hang in there, mom. Please, please, please hang in there!

Black hair gently nudged against her cheek and pressed against her plump lips that slightly quivered at the thought of losing her mother. Her eyes started to well up, but she fought back the tears in hopes of not ruining the eyeliner she applied this morning. Brooke refused to let her mom die. Not today.

The Corolla drifted past the glowing red traffic light and drove on ahead on the last street that stood in her way.

It's just a straight shot now, Brooke thought as her foot pressed even harder against the gas pedal. The car reached 70 miles an hour, zipping past unusually parked cars and pickups. Brooke gasped at the large ruckus up ahead and slammed the brakes as hard as she could. Luckily for her, the car halted a few feet away from a man who seemed to want to escape the area more than anything right now.

"Oh-my-god," the girl blurted in shock as her eyes drifted away from the man and locked on the crowd of people following suit. They ran around the Toyota and continued down the street as ominous sounds emerged up ahead. Then those sounds were followed by loud screaming. Brooke's eyes popped at the sight of people wearing bloodied hospital gowns pursuing and attacking the civilians who were desperately trying to flee. Green lesions and rotten skin coated their bodies. Blood was everywhere. The sight became unbearable. Brooke cupped her olive hands over her mouth as she watched someone get eaten alive. She couldn't look away from the horrifying scene until a woman banged on her passenger window and pointed down to the door handle.

Click!

Brooke unlocked the doors, but she did it too late unfortunately. The woman was taken off her feet by a sick man who proceeded to devour her. A man quickly arrived to the rescue. Brooke knew the man killed the attacker from the unusually-colored blood that splattered against the window.

"Whoa!" She gasped at the bloody, handsome man who possibly saved that woman's life.

"How did this get like this?"

Ryan drove his Chevrolet Corvette through the streets, steering through the maze of cars. Who knew a simple meet up at a cafe would turn into a nightmare.

Come in Maris, please be safe

He eventually arrived at the cafe and his heart dropped. On one of the outdoor tables was a blonde haired girl, Maria. She was laying down on the table, her lifeless eyes looking in Ryan's direction as a man in a hospital gown ripped pieces out of her. He stayed there, looking in horror before some drive behind him and rammed him, pushing his car out of their way.

"What the hell?" Ryan looks around, disoriented from that and watched the truck that rammed him drive off. He looked and saw the man coming towards him. Ryan got out the car and ran as fast as he could, seeing more carnage until he saw a Civic in the distance, his face now blooded from a gash on his forehead from the crash

Tanner pulled open the door of the Civic to hop inside. The smell of death was getting to be too much for him, so he quickly shut the door. He turned to the young girl to see her shocked face.

"You okay," he asked her with a concerned look. The last thing he wanted was for her to lose her marbles while driving.

Ryan shouted out to them, almost to the Civic when the thing that was chasing him tackled him when he turned to look to see how close it was. He fell to the ground and managed to hold it back from biting him, pieces of Maria's shirt hanging between its teeth. Something inside him snapped for a moment as he grabbed the things head and snapped it's neck. He pushed the things off of him and ran to the car, banging on the window tiredly.

(I died for a while xD)

Brooke's eyes never left the blood-splattered window that now started to dry up, encasing itself to the slightly darkened tint. Seeing a mob of people flee from a group of cannibals with painted hospital gowns was one thing. Actually seeing a person get eaten alive by said cannibals deemed more unnerving for the poor girl.

"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap, holy crap, holy crap, holy crap, holy crap, holy crap, holy crap."

Her body remained frozen in fear, but the words of the man finally sunk in and revived her. She only responded with a mere nod, but her recovery seemed more important right now.

Brooke blinked a few times, but her eyes didn't deceive the image up ahead. It appeared to be more crazed people heading their way. She leaned forward to get a clearer view and realized that she wasn't crazy. Her back plopped against the driver's seat, both eyes locked on her handsome friend, and her left hand began making it's way to the locking mechanism of the Corolla.

"What do we do," she asked the man.

Tanner turned at the sound of someone banging the window behind the girl before he even had the chance to respond. He didn't look like a threat, so he quickly turned to the young woman who was about to lock the doors.

"Wait," he tried. "There's a guy back there who needs our help. Let's let him in."

Ryan continued, not knowing the doors were unlocked. He grabbed the handle and opened the door, getting in as one of those things grabbed his shoe. He kicked its head multiple times and even smaller it's arms in the door before he got it off and shut the door.

"Drive, now." Ryan said, wiping his head and wincing, just now realizing he had a gash on his head.

Brooke just barely finished processing the words of her stranger friend when another hopped in the back. She had to reach up and slightly adjust the rearview mirror by gripping the black outline and shifting it slightly, taking caution in tarnishing the spotless glass with fingerprints. Sure enough, another young man sat in the leathery back seat of her Corolla. The young woman gripped her gearstick after realizing that there was no time to waste. The carnivorous patients were now clawing their rotten fingers on the Toyota's rear windows and the ones up ahead were only getting nearer and nearer. Nervousness flushed like a wave of nausea all throughout the poor girl's body. Her grip tightened on the stick as if she needed to hold on to dear life. Sweat started forming on her hands like a sponge and her chocolate brown eyes didn't turn from the herd moving closer, gaining ground quickly. Time continued to pass without any remorse.

Oh, this is not happening! This is not happening! Wait, this is probably just a nightmare. I'm probably gonna wake up any minute.

As much as Brooke prayed, her miracle prayer wasn't granted and ultimately drained any hopes that had or would've emerged. To this day, she could never call herself suitable for these intense situations and now this problem hit her as a reminder that she'll never be ready for anything if it comes with high risk. The pained screams of the unlucky citizens, the merciless acts of these sick patients, the intensity of the pressure forced onto her, and the fear for her mother's and her own safety weighed too much on her. Her heart pounded and the hand on her steering wheel starting drumming on the soft memory foam cover. Panicking about everything felt like the right thing to do, but her hand somehow forced the gear to be shifted to reverse.

"Right," she told the man behind her as confidence finally began breaking down the walls of fear built in her. Her foot slammed on the pedal, causing the Toyota to ram anyone and anything behind it. The people putting their entire weight into the door closed the slight gap to the car so they could continue their efforts. When one of the inhumane creatures pressed it's body against her window, Brooke let out a yelp as she jumped.

Get a hold of yourself!

The woman who still couldn't erase all the fear growing inside of her somehow set the car to drive and pressed on the gas. The Corolla roared with life and moved through the crowd of insane people who instantly closed the space the car took up before with the herd that immediately arrived after the three's departure. The large group of maniacal predators chased them to the best of their ability, but their slow movements were of no danger to a speedy vehicle. Up ahead, an IKEA came into view followed by a few small buildings. Brooke parked the car by one of the buildings then turned to her compatriots. If she wants answers, this would be the only time she felt that she could get them.

"Okay, who are you guys, and what the hell is going on?!"

Tanner knew that time only continued to run out. His chances of getting out of Tucson weren't as great as it was before, and he feared for the future. This girl was his ticket out, but he knew she wouldn't drive without answers. Taking a few glances through back mirror, he finally spoke up.

"I'm Tanner Goodman," he started. "And we're survivors of something that's taking over the city. I don't know much else than that."

Brooke frowned at his half answer. She reached over and turned off the car, but she left the keys in the ignition. The Toyota became completely quiet as it's owner spoke.

"You're gonna have to do better," she tried again. "Don't leave out anything. Tell me everything you know."

Brooke slipped a hand inside her black leather coat and pulled out her Samsung to use to dial a number. Scrolling through her contacts, she stopped at the name Dave and dialed him.

"We're not going anywhere until you give me answers."

With her free hand, the girl pressed her finger on a black button close to the steering wheel, causing all the doors in the Corolla to make a clicking noise.

A wave of worriness passed through Tanner once the girl turned off the car. He figured that he'd have to explain everything, but they really didn't have much time to waste.

"Okay," Tanner sighed. "The Insurgency. That's what's going on. I guess something bad happened at the hospital, because patients are attacking people. I think it's a disease that's spreading. It's highly contagious. At this rate, the whole city's pretty much screwed."

Upon entering Tucson, the two already were thrown into the heat of things. Blood cakes the streets along with citizens that seemed inhuman. When one of them spotted the moving vehicle, he, along with other sick people, began moving towards them.

"What in the world happened here," Tatum asked as he turned to the back alleys. "Katie, get my phone and call Alan for me, will ya?"

The phone dropped into Brooke's lap after hearing that brief summary. Hospital. Patients. Disease. The brunette didn't want to believe it, but she knew that the man sitting next to her wasn't lying. She had just seen living proof a minute ago. Tears welled up in her eyes when her mom came to mind. She was supposed to see her, but the fact that there are sick hospital patients rampaging through the streets led her to make one unmistakable conclusion.

Her mother is dead.

Streaks trickled down her soft cheeks as Dave's voicemail message played. Brooke's hand managed to turn off her phone in between sobs, but that was all she could muster.

Ryan just sat there in silence. He still a bit shaken by seeing his best friend get turning into a meal, as didn't say a thing. Once she began sobing, he leand forward and rubbed her shoulder to try and help her.

Tanner's face softened when she started crying. He knew something he said triggered her sadness, but he didn't know what. He tried to give a few consoling words to cheer her up.

"Ma'am," he began. "Everything's going to be fine. I promise you that."

(I wonder when Evan's prologue will happen...)

The two men's combined efforts managed to calm down the girl. It mostly came down to the boy rubbing her shoulder. Brooke's most likely late mother always rubbed her shoulder and told her that everything's going to be okay whenever the child felt worried, scared, sad, and even angry. She still receives that treatment to this day; recently, specifically yesterday, her bedridden mother had to gently stroke Brooke's shoulder and whisper to her softly that things will get better. If this is considered better, then Brooke would hate to find out what her mother deems to be worse.

Brooke's body stiffened at first, but she didn't stop her fellow passengers from consoling her, but her focused turned to Tanner after he finished speaking with an "Are you serious?" expression.

"Fine?! Everything's going to be fine?" Her eyes pierced like lasers as she fought back the urge to scream at her companion. She knew he meant well, but he didn't have to lie to her face like that. Brooke took a deep breath before continuing in a soother tone. "People are murdering other people out there. Eating them. Some of the stuff I saw are things I can't un-see. How do you expect things to just get better?"

For the first time, Brooke finally took notice to herself. Her throat throbbed and felt really dry, most likely from a cold or weariness from all the yelling. She hoped that one of them came with a bottle of water, because things weren't going to look too good if the three remain in the vehicle all day. Brooke felt satisfied with the limited information she received from her compatriots, so she felt just about ready to resume things. Though a destination in mind would be something important to obtain, Brooke wanted to be at a safe distance from downtown Tucson. With every passing moment, the treachery nearby would traverse on their location.

Tanner sighed. She had a point. There was no use lying to her. Even he didn't believe that things were going to go back to the way they were before. He met the girl's eyes and decided to say the one thing that he knew for sure would be true.

"I really wish that I could answer that question," Tanner told her. "I don't know if things will get better, but I can surely say that-whoa!"

Tanner's attention immediately turned to the explosion that happened just a few streets across.

Ryan continued rubbing her shoulder as he felt his thigh getting wet. He looked down and realized that the blood from the gash was now dripping off his face and soaking into his pants leg. He stopped rubbing her shoulder and took off his shirt, tearing some off and wrapping it around his head like a bandage.

Brooke listened intently to every word Tanner said. She felt thankful for him trying to console her and she even brightened up a little, but the thoughts of her mother back in that hospital were thoughts that didn't evaporate from her mind. Flashes of memories and knowing how scared she must be almost drew the girl insane, but the sound of an explosion very close to them pulled her back into reality.

A whiff of a strawberry fragrance made her realize that throughout the whole ordeal, her perfume bottle lying on the ground near the back seat had been punctured. Though the smell was enticing, she swore under her breath when she remembered that the price for that bottle had been $450. Not that it would matter anymore.

"Holy crap," Brooke said, reacting to the smoke that rose high into the air from the explosion that she hoped wasn't real. The sight invigorated her to turn on her radio to hopefully hear an update about their situation and any possible news about the explosion.