Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition

The sky was an untouched blue—so peaceful, it felt scripted. Birds chirped. A dog barked in the distance. Morning coffee steamed between Lara's fingers as she leaned over the kitchen counter, scrolling through wedding venues. She laughed softly when she came across a lakeside gazebo, picturing Ethan fumbling the ring in the water.

Ethan emerged from the hallway in nothing but sweatpants, towel around his neck. "Still planning our escape wedding?" he asked, kissing her forehead.

She smiled. "You'll cry at the vows."

"Only if zombies crash the party."

Neither of them knew how ironic that joke would be.

The day began normally. She went to the clinic for her nurse shift. Ethan headed to his tattoo studio. There were whispers—an incident at the metro, a patient violently attacking paramedics. But gossip always buzzed in small towns. Lara's hospital dealt with a case: a man convulsing, skin pale, veins blackening. No records, no ID. He bit a nurse before anyone could restrain him. The nurse was rushed into quarantine.

By noon, military trucks passed the hospital. No announcements. No sirens. Just heavy tires and blank stares from the soldiers.

Ethan texted:

"Someone smashed into the shop window. Blood. Cops everywhere. You okay?"

Lara replied:

"Yeah. But something's off. Come pick me up?"

They drove home in silence, radio static playing in the background. Every station dead.

That night, the city lights flickered. Sirens howled. Helicopters cut across the sky. Lara clutched Ethan's arm at the window. Across the street, a man stumbled through his front lawn, growling—then tackled a woman who had come out screaming. The sound of her bones snapping would echo forever in Lara's memory.

They locked the doors.

By midnight, there was no internet. The phone lines died. The last message she got was from the clinic:

"Do not return. Do not trust the bitten. Stay inside."

Ethan built barricades using furniture. Lara gathered canned food, adrenaline blurring her tears. Every sound outside felt like a threat. A scratching. A sob. A growl.

In the small hours of the morning, they sat together on the floor, fingers intertwined, backs pressed to the bedroom door.

"This can't be real," Lara whispered.

"It is," Ethan replied. "But we're together. That's real, too."

She rested her head on his shoulder, heart racing as the first growls crept up the stairs from outside their apartment unit.

It was the last time the world resembled anything close to normal.