Green Acres: A Zombie Apocalyptic Story

Ground 0 New York City, New York, USA March 25, 2022   Shouts came from all angles as the roar of trucks moved down the roads. Amongst the crowds of army greens, a single female stood out. Her dark hair had recently been cut, but amongst the older soldiers, she stuck out like a sore thumb. A gray-haired man paced in front of her group and shouted over the roar of the tanks as they rolled down the asphalt. “Alright soldiers. We have our orders. Eliminate all who appear to have the illness.”    “What are we looking for sir?” A masculine voice to the girl’s left lifted and caused her to turn her head in that direction. It was when her commanding officer looked at the man, that she feared for the worst. “You look for anyone who is sick. Doesn’t matter if they have bites on them or not. Any illness, you shoot them.”    “But sir…” The man didn’t get to speak anymore as the commanding officer lifted his pistol and shoved it in the man’s face. The girl's hazel eyes grew wide as she watched the commanding officer threaten her teammate. “This is war soldier. Do you question when the enemy is bombing you? You either kill, or you die.”   “Sir yes sir.” The man speaks, but when the commanding officer doesn’t seem appeased, he spoke louder. The pistol didn’t lower until the entire platoon was shouting the phrase.     Having arrived at the city when the sun had just begun to rise, the girl marched with her troupe for hours. Their objective never changed as they shot and killed what seemed like thousands of citizens. Their commanding officer didn’t even seem happy with their progress either, though what American would be happy about spilling their own blood? “Greene!” She heard her name before turning and seeing the horror that was the illness coming down on one of the older squad members. The scene that fell before her could only be described as one of pure horror. Her mouth fell wide as an undead citizen crashed into the side of one of her platoon. Greene didn’t even have time to ready her rifle before the corpse bit into her squad member. The scream that came from the man rang in her ears before she shot at both.    “What the f**k was that?” She questioned when the ringing in her ears subsided. Both men lay still on the road and she was able to examine the decayed man who had attacked. “He’s completely rotted. This man has been dead for at least a week.” Her hazel eyes went to her commanding officer now. “What are we up against sir?”   “A bioweapon that got loose.” He looked her dead in the eye now as he stood stiff. The sounds of gunfighting rang throughout the city now. Many of the other squads had started coming head to head with the ill citizens. Greene began checking her rifle and reloading the gun before running into the fray. Her aim was set on the heads of the decayed Americans. Though she knew it was her job to eliminate these people, she still felt bad for them. What were the scientists doing to have caused this kind of outbreak? How were so many citizens ill? Shoving her back against a concrete wall, she looked at her commanding officer. “This is just the beginning isn’t it?”    The man gave a nod to her question before spinning around and shooting at an undead that threatened to come closer. “Dragonfly, this is Groundhog three. Come in Dragonfly.”   “I hear you loud and clear Groundhog, what’s the status?”   “We’ve lost too many.” Greene listened into the conversation as she watched the decimation around her. Corpses lined the roads of the city and many of the citizens groaned as they shuffled through the bodies. The meat of their bodies fell from their bones in grotesque holes from bites. Some of the other squads even stood from their fallen positions only mere minutes after being announced dead.    The thoughts that came to her head brought her away from the conversation her commanding officer had been having and to the family, she had left a year prior. If this quadrant of the city had gotten bad, what happened to her home? “Greene?!” The voice came hushed at first. The punch to her arm had her looking at her commanding officer though and her hazel eyes dulled. “Got a bird coming for us, are you ready to evacuate?”    “No sir.” She spoke with authority now as she threw her rifle, which was empty, to the road. Her commanding officer looked at her in anger, “Suit yourself maggot.” Shaking his head, he began to climb the fire escape of the nearest building and left the girl alone.    With her rifle gone, and her squad perished, Greene began her way through the dead-filled streets back to her family home.