“Oh My God, it’s so hot in here,” Sniper whispers as he wakes in a cold sweat. He slides out of his bed, reaching for his glass of water on the night stand. The light from the clock pierces through the darkness like a dagger meeting its victim. He stands up and searches the wall for a switch. Once found, he turns the ceiling fan on. Immediately feeling the cool breeze, this brings a tranquil feeling to his skin.

The time on the clock is 6:25AM, and he rubs his eyes. Sniper turns on a lamp sitting on the night stand. The contents of the room are revealed in a dim light. Sniper turns the TV on as he looks at a picture of his girlfriend on the nightstand. As he prepares for his day, he over hears the news casters report about a new strain of flu. “The new strain of flu has baffled the medical community. Increasing numbers have fallen ill, as physicians work steadily for a vaccine. Doctors predict that numbers will increase as the country heads into the fall season,” says the new caster.

Sniper walks into the bathroom and turns on the sink. As he prepares for work, he thinks about his day. Though the report makes him feel cautious. He looks for his cell phone and texts his girlfriend. Wishing her a good morning and tells her to be safe. She immediately texts back ‘Same to you too baby. I love you.”

As he moves his old sea bag and grabs his work bag. He feels an eerie feeling as he opens his door. Peering into the world with the morning light, a dead silence strikes him odd. Already warm, he grabs his keys and opens his car door. He rolls down his windows as he starts his car. Noticing that traffic is lighter than normal, wondering has the flu hit this area. Sniper heads towards the interstate by a local mall.

Suddenly, he seeing car after car lined up, and traffic at a standstill. He sits back and turns on the radio. Instead of music playing, an emergency announcement makes a statement, “Due to the increasing number of flu victims. Patrons are advised to stay home during this epidemic. The government has issued a state of an emergency across the country,”

A loud crash distracts Sniper from the radio. He steps out of his vehicle, as he sees smoke raising several cars ahead. A construction worker off to Sniper’s right, runs to see if he can help. People start emerging from their cars to see what is wrong. While Sniper leaves his car and walks over toward the sidewalk, hoping to get a better view. He finds that part of the side walk was being worked on. A huge hole kept him from seeing anything. People start running from the smoke area, all of them showing fear on their faces.

Screams filled the air, as more people started to run away. Sniper stands motionless, wondering who is causing this. The only thing he could see was people fighting other people. Though the way they were fighting, looked like a horror film. Some people were biting and scratching people. Small groups would crowd individuals, and blood would fill the air. Sniper runs to his car and searches for his gun in the glove compartment. Shaking his head, he remembers that he promised his girlfriend to keep his gun out of the car. He finds the next best thing, and pulls a leather sleeve that contains his Ka-bar. As he pulls the blade out, a person grabs him from behind. He can tell the person wasn’t friendly as the person growls at him. Upon him turning, Sniper drives the blade into the deformed persons’ temple. Instantly seeing the life leave the zombie, a second zombie comes and Sniper yanks the blade free. Twisting his wrist quickly, he stops the advance of the second zombie. Pinning the zombie between him, and the car next to them, the second zombie stops moving. Sniper pulls his Ka-bar free from its’ skull.

Sniper jumps on the hood of the car next to his. He sees more zombies making their way toward him. As he prepares to make an escape, he hears a hissing sound. Sniper sees a beat up pickup truck with propane tanks that are about to catch fire. He hopes off the hood of the car and dashes for the hole in the sidewalk. Before he can jump into the hole, he hears an explosion, and then feels a sharp pain in his left side. The tanks caused the truck to explode and the shockwave forces Sniper into the hole. He hits the bottom with a thud as more cars start to explode. Right before he blacks out. A car flips and covers most of the hole.