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&039;Don&039;t be stupid,&039; Jackson yelled as the desperate teenager approached Skin lifted the bar high, ready to strike With twice his speed Jackson let rip with a single jab to Skin&039;s face, catching hi back He dropped the bar and it clattered loudly to the ground

Jackson looked around anxiously By breaking into the building he&039;d opened it up to the bodies outside They were now streaet out,&039; he suggested to Skin who still sat in a cru down his face &039;Unless you like this sort of thing, of course,&039; he added &039;Could have yourself a real party now, you sick bastard&039;

Skin couldn&039;t er and frustration and hate that had been released since the world had died had now suddenly returned, and noorse than ever before He was crushed He watched in desperate silence as Jackson turned and shoulder-charged his way through the dead and back out into the night There were still a couple of bodies burning nearby That, coupled with the h of a distraction to enable hiht? Forget him Stay alone and stay alive

Skin slowly stood up and stared at the body of his father It seemed to stare back at hiym and, for a tied the up quickly

Skin was scared All of his strength and bravado had gone He needed help He looked around for Dawn but she&039;d gone, sed up by the faceless crowd There ht With tears of sadness and huym He reached the barrier he&039;d built and looked over the mass of chairs and equipment In the darkness he could see what remained of his friends and teachers Over his shoulder the mass of cadavers moved ever closer

Skin climbed over the barrier and collided with the body of Miss Charles He had to look twice before he was sure it was her He began to talk to her Wiping blood and tears froise for what he&039;d done and how he&039;d behaved Miss Charles wasn&039;t listening Along with the re seventeen bodies of his teachers and his friends, she lunged towards him and tore him apart

Jackson watched froht The fire h the bodies outside and then to the buildings Whatever the reason, the whole bloody place was up in flarass for a while, watching as the bodies all around hiht in the distance When enough of theetto eat DAY THIRTY-EIGHT

ANNIE NELSON

After I left the community centre I ca anything else I had nowhere else to go That eeks ago now Just over four weeks I think but I&039; harder and harder to keep track of the days

I never felt safe in that co, but no-one actually did anything about it There were always people crying or arguing or fighting but no-one actually did anything constructive When I first got there I thought we s like we used to if there was a crisis, but we didn&039;t Most people were too scared and upset to even try You see, everyone had lost someone else Everyone had their own proble out before they tried to help anyone else For most people there didn&039;t even see to pick up the pieces

My friend Jessie (the lady I used to talk to at the centre) said that she couldn&039;t ever see things getting any better I kept telling her that they had to and that they would do eventually No e to do it in the end, don&039;t you? It et there if you think positive and refuse to give up, won&039;t you? I should know My whole life&039;s been a struggle, not that I&039;, ot into the building She tried to get aith the others Don&039;t suppose I&039;ll ever find out what happened to her

There were a few people in that co to explode It was only ahappened there I&039;ve never been as frightened as I hen the fights started and when the doors were opened It was all I could do to keep out of the way I curled myself up into a ball and lay still under a table as the roos from outside I know that they used to be people and that I should be respectful but honestly, they were disgusting They o soo like that I just want to go to sleep one night and then not wake up again I looked out for Jessie when the building started filling up but she et out through the back and she ed out with theht

I just kept ain I kept as still as I could and watched those creatures as they dragged the me but I knew I couldn&039;t move I couldn&039;t let them see me It must have been the best part of a day later when I finally saw a gap in the crowds I stood up, as quiet as I could, and crept out of the building I did ht but I never expected it to work I&039;ll never kno I et back ho felt better I collected up all the food and drink I could find and then dragged the mattress out of the spare bedroom down to the cellar and that&039;s where I&039;ve stayed since then It&039;s cold and dark and miserable down here but at least I&039;ot a torch and candles and ed to find plenty to do to keepas I have to I&039;ve got books to read and I can knit and sew if I want to Shame there isn&039;t any music I miss the radio I miss the voices The radio used to keep me company I know that I have to stay quiet If I s will find out where I a around Sometimes I can even hear them in the house

Such a shame about all those people in the community centre Such a waste You don&039;t have to ht and screa perfectly well down here on h wars and terrorist attacks and flu epidees and ot over that, didn&039;t I? The probleh experience of life I&039;hty-four, and I&039;ve seen just about all there is to see

The trouble with most people is that they want their problems sorted out today, not tomorrow They&039;ve had it too easy with their computers and their mobile phones and the like They expect someone to flick a switch andto happen, is it? People just have to accept that this isn&039;t going to get better overnight It&039;s going to take ti to take patience Be quiet and keep yourself to yourself and everything will be all right in the end

It&039;s very cold today Must be the middle of October by now Not sure what the exact date is Anyway, it doesn&039;t matter I&039;m sure I used to have a little oil heater somewhere Maybe I&039;ll nip upstairs and try and find it later, if there aren&039;t any of theht be in the bedroom I think that&039;s where I last saw it I need to do soet h any good I hate it when I cough When I cough it lets them knohere I am I don&039;t want the that so to come Someone will come forlist of who lives where and they&039;ll tick the Soovernment or the army will come and help us sort this bloody mess out

I hope it&039;s soon

I&039; ot to go out and get so it off I haven&039;t got much left

Keep your chin up That&039;s what I keep saying to ht so far, Annie

I&039;ll be all right

I&039;ll survive DAY ONE HUNDRED AND

NINETEEN

UNDERGROUND

John Carlton is a twenty-four year old army mechanic who, for the last one hundred and nineteen days, has lived underground in a military bunker buried deep in the countryside Trapped down there with him are another one hundred and sixteen soldiers, less than half the nuinally hly trained and once powerful fighting force they used to be, these men and woman are desperate and terrified Backed into a corner, all order and control has now broken down Supplies are running dangerously low Ti out

For these men and women the bunker has become their tomb They have no means of escape or salvation, and each one of them is painfully aware just how finely poised and delicate their precarious situation is Their alternatives are all equally hopeless It will not be long before their lack of equipment and supplies renders the base uninhabitable and yet they are unable to leave the bunker The air outside is still filled with a vicious infection which will strike the theain and walk the Earth relentlessly Furthermore, the dead remains of the population on the surface have, over ti it under thousands of tonnes of rotting human flesh

Inside the bunker the situation is deteriorating day by day Law and order is now non-existent and every man and woman has to fend for thes of the past Everyone is equal at the bottom of the pile, and everyone is a potential enemy Self-preservation is all The next breath of air that the person next to you takes or the precious mouthful of food or water they s means, ultimately, that there is now less for you

Death is inevitable and is fast approaching Whichever way these men and women turn they will die And worst of all, each of theer carries with it any certainty The end of their natural livesfar, far worse