Bo smirked at the middle manager. “You’ve got a real cynical attitude, you know that, man?” Silas glared at him, then went back to staring out the window. “They don’t look like cops. I wonder how they got guns.”
“Hacked ’em, probably,” Reyna said.
“I hope they work on zombies. Look!” Bo pointed to the other end of the street. The zombies were coming, and the three of them couldn’t see it from their vantage point. They were going to walk right into a horde of them. He slid the window open. “Hey! left! Go left!” He shouted and waved.
The City: 118: Bo
March 11, 2015
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The City: 117: Reyna
March 10, 2015
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Silas nudged Reyna and pointed. Both watched but neither said a word, not wanting to draw attention to themselves or the people running. The zombies were everywhere, and it seemed like they were getting faster, more graceful, and more cunning with each passing hour. The two women and the boy didn’t stand much of a chance. There were just too many of them.
“I think they have boot guns,” she said, and the two others looked up and came over to the windows too.
“You’re right,” said Bo
“Then they should shoot themselves and be done with it,” Silas said.
The City: 116: Silas
March 9, 2015
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It was nearly dark when the three figures crept out of the back entrance to the bank and into the alley. Silas watched them with interest. He was holed up in the building across the street. He barricaded himself and a few coworkers in an empty office when the virus started spreading through the building. It wasn’t as nice as some of the others, but there was no outward facing glass and the door was solid oak. It had held for five hours. They spent that time in silence, just listening to the zombies beat ceaselessly against the door, waiting.
The City: 114: Rick
March 5, 2015
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The wave of zombies poured into the CPD lobby and stood, staring silently at the police officers. There were hundreds of them, far outnumbering the crowd of cops. Jenkins shut up too. Rick drew the pair of cuffs that he ‘forgot’ to turn in to evidence this afternoon. The zombies weren’t susceptible to booting, but he bet the would respond to environmental damage. The problem was, there was only one of him, and so many zombies. He sprinted to the first one and managed to cuff it. It shook and went still. But three of the others were on him.
The City: 113: Alpha 738
March 4, 2015
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The room was filled with connections, relationships. Alpha 738 smelled them. And she was hungry. Not very long ago, processing cycles, really, she had merely been hungry. She hadn’t understood why, or for what. All she knew was the food, and the hunger. She hadn’t even known she was Alpha 738. She simply was. But the more she ate, the more she navigated the obstacles between herself and the nodes of access and connection, the avatars, the more she understood, and the more she wanted. With three of her fellows, they pushed down the locked door and spearheaded the assault.
The City: 112: Morris
March 3, 2015
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Finally, Commissioner Jenkins calmed the crowd enough to continue. “I will step down, when this is over. But it’s not over yet. The virus is still rampaging across The City, infecting every avatar that comes in contact with it. Much like the zombies the malware mimics, a victim has to be bitten.” Morris rolled his eyes. Everyone already knew that much. This was a waste of time. “Our technicians are working on countermeasures. In the meantime, CPD will confront the source of the infection at the source!” That was when the doors burst in, and the horde of zombies attacked.
The City: 101: Katie
February 16, 2015
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In the lobby, Katie watched the zombies pour in through the shattered door. They attacked indiscriminately, clawing and biting at robbers and hostages alike. One of the robbers shot at them repeatedly, but the boot gun had no effect. Finally, she pulled the receptionist girl and the kid with the robbers back behind the counter. Two of the tellers were there, hunkered down behind the oak and glass. They waited for the sounds of carnage to die down. She looked at the gun.
“Can you use that thing?” she asked.
“It doesn’t work,” Ingmar replied.
“Not on them, on us.”
The City: 087: Faiza
January 27, 2015
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Faiza had a long day. The train had been late, her office had been a madhouse, the train had been late again. There were weird rumors circulating, and cops everyplace. Even virtually, the police eyed her hijab as though she could somehow suicide bomb a server from the inside. Now, all she wanted to do was logout and rest her eyes. Her City apartment was at the very top of one of the Bayside towers. Once she climbed the stairs, she found the door to her apartment was locked. All the doors were locked. She heard growling down the hallway.
The City: 079: Matilda
January 15, 2015
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Matilda sat huddled with the car park with the other Midas Corp evacuees. The police weren’t letting them go yet, but wether this was for investigative reasons, or merely a show of power had yet to be seen. The building was sealed off, but she could see the zombies, avatars, whatever they were, banging on the doors. The blast had triggered some kind of AI virus, hijacking the avatars and putting them under a single control. They weren’t very smart or agile, but at least they knew enough to avoid the blasted out windows. The ones that fell stayed dead.
The City: 078: Peng
January 14, 2015
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Peng walked as much as he could in The City. He had gotten a special treadmill for it and everything, which his husband had rolled his eyes at. He had called it a waste of money, but three months of daily exercise outside of the smog had really improved his heath.
He heard the moans and growls before he saw them. They were avatars, but violent and moving erratically, like wild beasts. He turned and ran, hearing his treadmill motor whine with unexpected stress. The zombies followed. He was only a mile from his login house. He almost made it.
Hugh J. O'Donnell 