Chapter One: D-Day

D-Day: the day, usually unspecified, set for the beginning of a planned attack.

Day 0

The biggest change was the quiet. Five years of living in New York City had Daisy accustomed to a constant slur of police sirens and drunken bar fights and screaming souls. Now, there was nothing. It was nice, she decided. The silence was almost stifling but it brought with it a certain sense of relief. It could be described as a kind of purgatory on Earth, but then again purgatory is often associated with despair and loss, with emptiness. So, perhaps not relief.

Existential contemplations such as these is where madness lies in wait, snatching any poor soul that wonders too far. So, Daisy finished her outrageously expensive iced coffee and left the lone park bench to re-join her band of misfits. Her shoes dragged in the dirt as she ambled her way back to the roadside gas station, where she could see her friends monkeying around as young adults with their first taste of freedom are wont to do. It seemed as though Jess and Nina were teasing sweet, naïve Kat over her newfound love of the lowly gas station attendant. Seeing such an innocent blush cover her pale face brought a smile to Daisy's face, and an unexpected tug of nostalgia to her heart.

As Daisy ushered her friends back into the decidedly rusted piece of junk that was her entire life savings in physical form, she felt unreasonably sad. She had no reason to be sad, a road trip with her friends is a happy and necessary experience of any young woman's life. Maybe it was just her body tiring after a whole day driving, but she felt that something was to come to an end.

"Daze, come on! Seatbelts are all on!" Daisy heard Nina insist somewhere from the backseat. She was startled out of her surprisingly insistent thoughts.

"Well, I'm sorry if your safety is an ever present worry in my life, you guys." Daisy felt better already, being once again exposed to the loving torment of her best friends. She pulled the car back onto the highway and continued their journey to New Orleans. They'd all decided to have a road trip after Jess' surprising graduation from college; not many of their classmates believed that she'd pull through.

"How long 'till we get there, Daze?" Kat asked with a pleading tone, being not a person fond of long trips in confined spaces.

"Geez, Kat, we only just got into Georgia, like, two hours ago." Daisy replied, exasperatedly.

"So…how long?"

"We'll be there tomorrow! Unless one of you lazy ingrates would like to drive…?" Daisy baited them.

"No, no!" Kat exclaimed.

"Yeah, we ingrates are fine back here!" Nina said, with Jess adding, "Mmhmm, tomorrow's fine, Daze!"

Daisy continued driving with an indulgent smile. She could see the pink and dusty purple colours of the sunset in the sky and was glad that the sun was behind them. In the distance there was traffic lining the highway, promising an irritatingly long time until they would reach their destination for the night, Atlanta.

After they had sat in traffic for about half an hour, Nina and Jess had begun to play red hands in the back, while Kat snuggled into her pillow, asleep, in the front. Daisy tapped her fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of whatever mindless song was playing softly on the radio and sighed in impatience.

"I swear the traffic isn't this bad in New York." She said quietly to the girls in the back.

"Let's not exaggerate, dear Daisy." Nina said with a smirk. "We're almost in the city, aren't we?"

"Psh, yeah. We should get there in about forty minutes."

"Forty minutes?!" Jess exclaimed, "God dammit!" Her loudness made the girls look towards Kat in trepidation. But with a snort she continued what looked like a riveting dream.

"Quiet, Jess." Daisy warned her. As Jess was about to defend herself, a phone began to ring. Daisy recognised her ringtone and picked up, seeing that her brother was calling.

"Nick? What's up?"

"I did something bad." He mumbled to his sister. Despite his long standing history as a heroin addict, this was cause for caution to rise in Daisy.

"What do you mean, Nick? What's wrong? What did you do?" Daisy asked in quick succession, growing panicked. Kat had woken up, and all three girls were looking toward Daisy in worry as she drove the car slowly into the city with her left hand, and her phone in the right.

"I killed Cal. I killed…Calvin." Nick said, notably upset and most likely crying. Daisy's heart dropped to her feet.

"What…? What do you mean you killed Cal?" Daisy asked, dreading the answer. Kat's eyes opened wide as she looked at Daisy and there were two gasps heard from the backseat at the thought of Daisy's brother killing someone.

"He...He pulled a gun. Daze, he was gonna kill me. So I got it, and I shot him. In the stomach. There's blood. Daze, it's on my hands." He was sobbing through the phone and sounded more panicked then Daisy could ever remember her little brother sounding.

"So, it was self-defence? Nick, you're okay. Listen to me, you're okay. You had to do that, Nick. It's okay. Look, I'll call mom and tell her to come get you." Daisy reassured.

"No! Daisy, please. Don't call mom, she can't know. She can't." He pleaded with her, tears audible in his voice.

"Nick, I have to call someone to help you. You need help. Do you want me to call Travis?" She asked, hoping that Nick would let their step-father handle this.

After a silence Nick replied a soft, "Okay", and Daisy assured him that she would call Travis right away. She hung up on her brother after she had determined him to be stable enough for the moment and brought her hand down to rest on the steering wheel. Daisy's breathing was as heavy as her heart in her chest after hearing her brother's distress.

"Is Nick okay?" Kat asked softly from beside her.

Daisy realised herself and looked toward her concerned friend, "Yeah, Kat. He's okay. Uh, his dealer pulled a gun on him. He had to…yeah." She finished with a sigh. Daisy looked towards the traffic in front of her, finally thinning as they reached their exit. Still stopped in traffic, she asked if one of her friends could take the wheel while she called her step-father, and Kat replied in the affirmative. They maneuvered around each other until they were once again in their respective seats, buckling their seatbelts.

Kat continued their drive, heading for the hostel they were staying at for the night, while Daisy dialled Travis' number. He picked up promptly.

"Daisy? Are you okay?" Travis sounded concerned, it wasn't every day that Daisy called her step-father. Though she personally had nothing against him, she stuck with her brother and sister in thinking of his existence in their lives as awkward, or maybe unwanted.

"Nick called me. He said that he killed someone-his old dealer, Cal." Daisy told him quickly.

"What-?"

"Cal pulled a gun on him, he didn't have a choice!" She exclaimed.

"Daisy, calm down. Where is he?" Daisy could hear what she assumed to be her mother questioning why she was calling Travis.

"Listen, you can't tell mom. He doesn't want her to know."

"Daisy, I have to tell her. He's her son."

Daisy exasperatedly replied, "Fine! Just hurry, call him and find out where he is, then just go. Help him!"

"Okay, okay. Thanks for letting me know, Daisy."

With a hum she hang up and breathed a sigh of relief. In the back, Jess leaned forward and asked, "Is everything okay, Daze?"

"Yeah, it's fine." Daisy replied in a flat tone. Maybe this was what she had pre-emptively felt earlier in the day. A turning point in her brother's and by extension her family's lives. The streets were quiet again, only a few cars passing by them.

They soon arrived at the hostel, which lived up to every stereotype Daisy had heard. They made their way through halls and passed closed doors and open doors, each promising some sort of dreary debauchery that usually hung about the young and adventurous. Kat, Jess, Nina and Daisy finally found their room and opened the door, no lock to be seen, and stood in the doorway.

"At least it's only for the night." Nina said with a sigh and tiredness that all in the group felt. Daisy leaned against the door frame and one by one the girls entered. Kat touched her shoulder as she passed, concerned for Daisy. She gave Kat a tired smile and entered, falling into her designated bed to the left, under Jess'.

"It's so…communal." Jess said with a grimace, "We're supposed to share a bathroom with all of these other people?"

"Yes, Jess. That's what a hostel is, generally. Temporary communal living." Nina told her. "Hey, you know what would be great? We should order a famous Atlantean pizza!"

"I'm pretty sure Atlantean isn't a word, and since when is their pizza famous?" Daisy replied with a small smile. "But that sounds great, how 'bout you order."

"Okay…large Pepperoni and a large Hawaiian?" Nina questioned.

"No! Keep that weird pineapple shit out of my room!" Jess said with a strange vehemence, apparently offended by the idea of pineapple on pizza.

"Okay, then. Pepperoni and a Cheese?" She compromised, getting nods in response.

"How about you order, and I'll wait for it downstairs. I need some air anyway." Daisy said, feeling hollow after the strange day. "Nick's real trouble. First he says that he saw his girlfriend eating someone after a bender, now he's shot his dealer…"

"Yeah, that's pretty insane." Kat said with a strange look at Daisy's cavalier attitude. "Hey, you know there've been a whole lotta reports of people acting strange and even eating other people. There was one in…Chicago and another in LA, there was a video too. Crazy."

Daisy felt sceptical at Kat's claims, thinking that Nick was likely hallucinating what Gloria had done. But there seemed to be more to the story. Daisy left Nina to call the nearest pizza place and made her way back through the winding halls. There really were strange noises, Daisy heard moaning and dry heaving behind one, and what sounded like bed-breaking sex behind another. Best to leave these devils to their devices.

She made it outside and breathed in the cold night air. There was an instantaneous relief and clarity. Daisy stepped down the stairs leading to the hostel entrance and sat on the lowest step near the wall, leaning against the cold brick with her legs stretched out in front of her. Daisy's feet knocked together in her boots as she reached into her pocket and surfaced her phone, checking for messages. When she found none, she decided to call her mother to get an update on Nick's situation.

"Mom?" Daisy asked as she heard her pick up.

"Daisy? Are you okay?" Her mother sounded frantic.

"What, mom? Yeah, I'm fine. What about Nick?"

"Daisy, Nick's fine. But I'm gonna need you to get somewhere safe."

"Wh-"

"Listen, Daze. Something's happening. There are these people, they're dead but they-"

"Mom, what are you talking about?" Daisy was concerned at what her mother was saying, something that seemed impossible.

"Listen! Daisy, the dead are coming back to life, and they're dangerous. You have to get somewhere safe, and…we'll come for you. Nick, Alicia, Travis-we'll all come, just. Stay safe, Daisy."

"What? But…that's impossible. Are you joking? This isn't funny."

"I'm not joking, Daisy. I was at the school and, one of them was there."

"Wh-?" At some point Daisy had started panicking, tears running down her face.

"You can only kill them by hitting their brain, Daze. And don't let one bite you. That's how you turn. But, please don't go-"

"Mom?" The line had gone dead. Daisy pulled her phone from her ear and tried to redial, but it went straight to voicemail. Her breathing was beginning to go ragged and she could feel her heartbeat pounding in her head. She stood, using the wall behind her to pull her suddenly weak body up.

A clatter startled Daisy out of her hysteria. It had come from the alley nearest to her, one building over from the hostel. Suddenly a boy came running out, carrying what looked like her pizza. He came towards her and barrelled into Daisy, hand catching hers and dragging her back up the stairs and into the hostel. The boy slammed through the door and Daisy was flung into the room. She stared at him shocked as he fumbled for the lock on the door, turning the deadbolt that he found.

"What?" Daisy said flatly, shocked.

"Sorry! But there was…hey are you Daisy?" He asked, turning towards her. Daisy nodded hesitantly in response and he smiled. "Here's your pizza!" He placed it into her outstretched hands which had raised automatically.

"Why?"

"There was this guy! I think he was homeless, or an addict…or both. He was chasing me, slowly. But he was growling and drooling and he went to bite me, so I ran." There was a thud on the door. They both turned, but they couldn't see through the heavy wooden door. "That'll be him." He said with wide eyes.

"He…tried to bite you?" Daisy said, remembering what her mother had said. The pizza boy nodded with wide eyes and raised eyebrows, disbelieving. He looked nervous.

"Do you, want to come up until he leaves?" Daisy asked reluctantly, not willing to make this boy brave the chopping jaws of a homeless man despite her reservations. He looked instantly relieved.

"God, thanks so much. I'm Glenn." He proclaimed with an awkward smile and a friendly hand outstretched. She shook his hand lightly with a bewildered smile. He seemed friendly. Glenn was around Daisy's age, Asian and wearing a faded red cap sans any expected advertisement of the pizza place he had originated from.

Daisy turned and led him through the halls and entered once she came across her room. Her friends looked up when they entered, Jess examining the boy beside her with a wary eye.

"You work fast, Daze." She said with a hesitantly suggestive tone.

"Wha-? No! This is the pizza guy. Glenn! He was chased by one of the, uh-" Daisy trailed off when she realised the insanity of the situation and the concerning lack of knowledge of said situation that her three friends had. She closed the door behind her and Glenn, ducking under Nina's hanging legs to sit on the bed below hers.

"You guys know, the uh, attacks that have been on the news? That one guy in New York, he attacked a police officer and ate his face off?" Daisy asked her friends in a serious tone. Jess and Kat nodded from their beds across the room.

Nina ducked her head to see Daisy and the mysterious pizza guy, saying, "Yeah, I saw the video. It was pretty gnarly!"

"Gross, Nine! That guy died! Or at least is now faceless…" Kat scolded, trailing off with a disgusted look on her face.

"So, uh. That particular, phenomenon, has become more…widespread." Daisy continued haltingly.

"What do you mean more 'widespread'?" Kat asked softly.

"People are coming back from the dead! And then they wanna eat people!" Glenn exclaimed abruptly. Daisy looked at him, disapproving of his tactlessness, while the others looked on in shock. Nina slid down from her bed and turned towards Glenn and Daisy with narrowed eyes.

"Wait, what? Who even are you? Daze, why is this guy going on about dead people and cannibalism?"

"Well, this is Glenn, the guy who brought our pizza." Daisy said, Kat, Jess and Nina still looking confused as to why he was in their room. "And he was being chased by one of the-uh, aforementioned people-hungry dead things. So he's gonna wait it out with us."

"So…what he said was true?" Kat questioned with pale features and a nervous, disbelieving smile. "About the dead people?"

"Yes." Daisy said resignedly. "My mom told me about it earlier. The dead are coming back to life and attacking people. One bite and you're dead, you become one of them." Her friends were beginning to become appropriately panicked.

"But, wh-" Jess was interrupted as the lights in the room shut off and they were surrounded by darkness. Daisy heard Kat let out a squeal as she rushed to the window of their tiny room. As Jess comforted Kat, Daisy looked out towards the city of Atlanta and saw the twinkling lights abounding systematically shut off. Distant screams of surprise and terror could be heard in the dead night when Daisy pushed open the reluctant, rusted-shut window, peeling paint dusting her hands.

Cool air hit her face and Daisy felt alone. The darkness was stifling. "The power's gone in the entire city." She said quite redundantly.

"No, that's stupid." Nina said, she took out her phone and turned it on, illuminating the room. Daisy pulled the window shut with a bang and turned, seeing the pale, lost faces of her friends, and even the pizza guy, Glenn, looking towards her for some sort of direction.

"It has, Nine." Daisy said resignedly with a sigh. "Shit's about to get real."