WHAT CAME AFTER

2025:

I threw a couple of pairs of boots into my shopping cart and wandered over to the clothing section. Being set loose in a shopping mall with the ability to pick up anything that you wanted without having to worry about paying for it was probably every teenage girl's dream. But, somehow, things didn't seem the same; the store was eerily silent around me without the murmur of other shoppers or the typical elevator music that I remember so well, playing in the background.

At one time, shopping and getting my hair and nails done with my friends was one of the most important things in my life. Looking back, it's hard to believe that I was once so young and carefree, and yes, I said it, selfish. Even though it's only been three years, It seems like a lifetime ago since I was that happy fifteen-year-old.

For the longest time, all that I wanted was to get that life back. I desperately missed my friends and family and the life that we once had. Sometimes at night, I would close my eyes and pretend that I was back home in Topeka and safe in my own bed with my parents just down the hall in their room. Instead of sleeping on the cold hard ground with my gun by my side.

But no longer, I'm done grieving for what could have been. Now my nails are short and unpolished, and my formerly perfectly styled hair with its beachy waves is long and usually worn in a braid. Combat boots and dark jeans have replaced my jeweled sandals and shorts. Sometimes I still miss that girl and her innocence but, I like the new me even more. My life is filled with a new purpose to rid this world of that abomination, that we for lack of a better word, call zombies. These last few years have taught me the fragility of life; you never know when you might wake up one morning to find life as you know it to be gone. And for that matter, you just never know if this might be your last day on earth.

So yeah, I've had to grow up a little faster than expected, and it hasn't been easy, but I'm not the type to cry and whine about it. Whiners usually don't live very long in this world, and besides, I have more things to consider now that I'm about to be a mom. Some might question the wisdom of bringing new life into a world like this. But how else can you rebuild? Besides, I know that my children will be fighters, which is something that this world needs.

I picked up some shorts and a few tops, I wouldn't need much, but I had grown out of everything during the last couple of months. Luckily, in about a month, the twins would be born, and things would start getting back to normal, whatever that was.

The hair on the back of my neck prickled, and I glanced around uneasily; Logan had gone into the camping store next door, so I should have been alone, but something told me that I wasn't. During the past few years, my senses had developed considerably, and they were rarely wrong.

I sniffed a couple of times, and the tell-tale odor of slowly rotting flesh reached my nose. It's hard to describe, but there is a difference between the smell of a normal dead body and that of a zombie. For one thing, a zombie decomposes very slowly; I'm not sure why, but it has to do with the nature of the virus. But whatever the reasons, it does have a different odor, a sharper, more pungent odor somewhat like rotting cabbage mixed with a dead skunk and something else that is uniquely zombie.

I reach for my rifle with one smooth movement and whirl around, automatically firing as I turn. Leaving gory bits and pieces of zombie splattered throughout the maternity section.

Just then, I catch some movement to my right, and quickly turning, I see Logan running towards me. No doubt attracted by the gunshot. I lowered my rifle and gave a cheeky grin, "not bad for a pregnant lady."

"We need to get out of here," he said with a worried look. "This place is crawling with zombies. They are piling in here through the service entrance in the back of the mall. Most likely attracted by the sound of the gunshot when you killed that one." Logan gestured to the zombie lying on the floor several feet away.

I frowned, rubbing my achy back, " How many did you see?"

"I'm not sure, but probably several hundred."

"Perfect," I smiled. " We can burn the place down and get rid of a bunch of these monsters."

"There's a service station next door, let's get some gasoline."

"Sounds like a plan, but let's hurry up," I said with a winch. "From the way my back is aching, I think that the twins might be in a hurry to be born."

Jason's face paled, " maybe we should just go now."

"Oh no, the twins will have to wait just a little longer because I want to see this place burn!"

An hour later, my parents drove off in their battered old pickup as the mall burned to the ground, taking a good part of the town's zombies with it. And a short time after my brother Lucas and I made our entrance into this world. My name is Kaley Black, and this is my story.

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