the science of DECLINE
Steven Carroll
American Literature ½
2 November 2015
Last Days
It’s the year 2115. Zombies have taken over the world. Only a few survivors remain. The cause of the zombie outbreak is still unknown. All the remaining survivors know is that they are the last chance for humanity. The survivors camp is in the thick rainforests of the jungle, and survivors have come from all across the United States for a better chance of survival. The group leader, Lucas, is from inner city New York. Despite the drastic change in scenery from his home, Lucas has the sought after ability to adapt to his surroundings and think rather quickly. This is why he was chosen to lead the group. The brute force of the group, Butch, is from Texas. He was a weapons specialist in the Army, which makes him the most experienced with guns and the best person for killing the most zombies. He has terrible social skills, so he can be a real asshole. This makes him a little less popular in the group, but necessary. The brains of the group, Zach, is from Washington. While he is from a rainy area, he didn’t go outside much, so, basically, everything outside is new to him. While Zach can be a burden to the group during zombie confrontations, he is the only person in the world that can discover the details on how the disease works. And lastly we have Sarah. Sarah comes from the warm area of Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. She has been spoiled all her life and does not know a damn thing about survival. In most cases, she is a burden on the group. However, along with being immune to the disease, she has some strange mutation in her blood that causes the zombies not to eat her. Nobody in the group knows why she is like this, they just know that she is still no help at all.
It’s night. The four members sit around the fire and plan what their next move is for survival. Lucas suggests that they begin to head south and get out of the dense jungle. Butch, however, says the group should maintain their current position until help arrives. However, he does not know that they are the last people on earth. As Lucas and Butch break out in argument, Zach and Sarah try and keep themselves warm around the fire. Eventually, they insert themselves into the conversation. Zach suggests that they move south to get in larger cities and restock on supplies. Sarah and Lucas agree and it is a three to one vote to move south. Even though Butch is angry, he needs to stay with the group or he will not survive.
The group is on the move. Lucas leads the group through the large jungle, while Butch keeps watch for zombies and Zach stumbles around, trying to examine each and every plant, Sarah struggles to keep up, as usual.
“Zach! Stop looking at those stupid plants,” Butch yells at Zach as he slows the group down, making them wait on him to dissect the plant.
Zach comes back with, “For your information, Butch, this plant is not stupid. This plant was thought to be extinct when the zombies came, but for some reason, it is making a comeback.”
“I’ll make you extinct if you keep making me wait for you to take apart a dumb plant!” Butch angrily yells at Zach.
Lucas intervenes, “Enough you two! We will never make that mountain peak by sun down if you keep arguing over some plant.” Butch gives Zach a nasty glare and keeps walking.
Pulling up the rear is Sarah, who is tired beyond belief. “Can you guys wait up, I need to take a rest!” Sarah yells to the group ahead.
Butch replies with “For christ sake, Sarah, we have been waiting on you all day. Just meet us at the top of the mountain!”
Zach sees Sarah struggling on the bottom of the mountain and thinks to himself, ‘Maybe if I help Sarah, she will like me back.’ Zach moves down the mountain to help Sarah.
Sarah is very grateful for Zach's sacrifice. “Thanks Zach!” Sarah says. “You know, I really don’t like Butch and Lucas, they’re so inconsiderate sometimes.”
Zach agrees with her saying “Yeah, Butch and Lucas can be a little harsh sometimes.” After the group climbs to the top of the mountain, they continued to head south. After weeks of walking through the jungle, the group makes little progress in their travels. As the group is taking a break from walking, Sarah spots something strange off in the distance. She calls Zach over to look at her find. Zach looks at the strange figure.
“Is that what I think it is?!” Zach exclaims. “It's the lost city of Machu Picchu!” This is where the ancient Mayans lived thousands of years ago. The group examines the city and decides this is a good spot to rest for a couple of days. Zach strays away from the group and examines the ancient buildings of the lost city. He tries to read the inscriptions on the walls inside the buildings. He only makes out a few sentences, but he reads the secrets he has been trying to figure out for the last five years. The inscriptions read: “Evolution is the only way to survive the apocalypse.” Zach is shocked at his discovery. He runs back to tell the group what he has found, but he comes back to find the other members of his group missing. He looks all over the village for the rest of the day, trying to find his lost group members.
Zach starts to give up on his group members and begins to think that they have been eaten by the zombies. For his last place to look, he looks in the temple on top of the mountain in the middle of the village. He makes his way up the mountain and begins to hear voices in his head. “Leave, and never come back.” Zach starts to cry and scream in fear because he is so scared. As he cries like a baby, he thinks to himself, “Maybe if I rescue the group, Sarah will want to be with me.” So he musters as much courage as he can and climbs the mountain. After hours of intense climbing, Zach finally reaches the top of the mountain and finds the entrance to the temple. As he travels down the vast halls of the temple, he reads more ancient writing, it says “Do not enter, the unwanted will be killed!” These writing scared Zach, but the thought of Sarah would keep him going.
All of a sudden, Zach hears Sarah yell, “Somebody help me!” Zach runs toward the voice and finds Lucas standing in the middle of a long hallway. As Zach starts to run toward Lucas, he turns his head to face Zach. Zach stops in his path and sees that Lucas has been zombified. Lucas starts running after Zach in hopes that he will be feasting on his flesh. After running back through the temple, Zach sees the exit. He runs as fast as he can to the exit, but a zombified Butch comes around the corner waiting for him. Zach stops in his tracks, “Please don’t hurt me!” Zach screamed in terror. As the two zombies get closer and closer to Zach, he hears a faint running noise behind him. To Zach’s astonishment, it is his beloved Sarah. She runs right past zombie Lucas and grabs Zach. She pushes zombie Butch out of the way and runs with Zach in her arms.
Sarah takes Zach back to their camp in the village. Zach asked why Sarah put herself in danger by rescuing him from the zombies.
“You are a friend Zach. I would never leave you behind,” says Sarah. Zach asks Sarah why she always kept it secret that she was not targeted by any zombies. Sarah tells him this, “Well Zach, you see I have always liked you, and I really hated Butch and Lucas, so I guided you all hear to this secret village, and, while you were away, I took Lucas and Butch up to the temple on the hill and I bit and killed them. You see Zach, I have been a zombie all along, that's why zombies never targeted me because they thought I was one of them.”
“But you don’t look like a zombie” Zach said as he was still retaining the information he had just heard.
“That’s because I was able to evolve and learn how to control the zombie inside me. I always look like a normal person, but I have the zombie virus in me, so whenever I bite someone, they turn.” Sarah explained to Zach. “I killed Lucas and Butch so it would just be me and you Zach. Now we have the entire world to ourselves.”
American Literature ½
2 November 2015
Last Days
It’s the year 2115. Zombies have taken over the world. Only a few survivors remain. The cause of the zombie outbreak is still unknown. All the remaining survivors know is that they are the last chance for humanity. The survivors camp is in the thick rainforests of the jungle, and survivors have come from all across the United States for a better chance of survival. The group leader, Lucas, is from inner city New York. Despite the drastic change in scenery from his home, Lucas has the sought after ability to adapt to his surroundings and think rather quickly. This is why he was chosen to lead the group. The brute force of the group, Butch, is from Texas. He was a weapons specialist in the Army, which makes him the most experienced with guns and the best person for killing the most zombies. He has terrible social skills, so he can be a real asshole. This makes him a little less popular in the group, but necessary. The brains of the group, Zach, is from Washington. While he is from a rainy area, he didn’t go outside much, so, basically, everything outside is new to him. While Zach can be a burden to the group during zombie confrontations, he is the only person in the world that can discover the details on how the disease works. And lastly we have Sarah. Sarah comes from the warm area of Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. She has been spoiled all her life and does not know a damn thing about survival. In most cases, she is a burden on the group. However, along with being immune to the disease, she has some strange mutation in her blood that causes the zombies not to eat her. Nobody in the group knows why she is like this, they just know that she is still no help at all.
It’s night. The four members sit around the fire and plan what their next move is for survival. Lucas suggests that they begin to head south and get out of the dense jungle. Butch, however, says the group should maintain their current position until help arrives. However, he does not know that they are the last people on earth. As Lucas and Butch break out in argument, Zach and Sarah try and keep themselves warm around the fire. Eventually, they insert themselves into the conversation. Zach suggests that they move south to get in larger cities and restock on supplies. Sarah and Lucas agree and it is a three to one vote to move south. Even though Butch is angry, he needs to stay with the group or he will not survive.
The group is on the move. Lucas leads the group through the large jungle, while Butch keeps watch for zombies and Zach stumbles around, trying to examine each and every plant, Sarah struggles to keep up, as usual.
“Zach! Stop looking at those stupid plants,” Butch yells at Zach as he slows the group down, making them wait on him to dissect the plant.
Zach comes back with, “For your information, Butch, this plant is not stupid. This plant was thought to be extinct when the zombies came, but for some reason, it is making a comeback.”
“I’ll make you extinct if you keep making me wait for you to take apart a dumb plant!” Butch angrily yells at Zach.
Lucas intervenes, “Enough you two! We will never make that mountain peak by sun down if you keep arguing over some plant.” Butch gives Zach a nasty glare and keeps walking.
Pulling up the rear is Sarah, who is tired beyond belief. “Can you guys wait up, I need to take a rest!” Sarah yells to the group ahead.
Butch replies with “For christ sake, Sarah, we have been waiting on you all day. Just meet us at the top of the mountain!”
Zach sees Sarah struggling on the bottom of the mountain and thinks to himself, ‘Maybe if I help Sarah, she will like me back.’ Zach moves down the mountain to help Sarah.
Sarah is very grateful for Zach's sacrifice. “Thanks Zach!” Sarah says. “You know, I really don’t like Butch and Lucas, they’re so inconsiderate sometimes.”
Zach agrees with her saying “Yeah, Butch and Lucas can be a little harsh sometimes.” After the group climbs to the top of the mountain, they continued to head south. After weeks of walking through the jungle, the group makes little progress in their travels. As the group is taking a break from walking, Sarah spots something strange off in the distance. She calls Zach over to look at her find. Zach looks at the strange figure.
“Is that what I think it is?!” Zach exclaims. “It's the lost city of Machu Picchu!” This is where the ancient Mayans lived thousands of years ago. The group examines the city and decides this is a good spot to rest for a couple of days. Zach strays away from the group and examines the ancient buildings of the lost city. He tries to read the inscriptions on the walls inside the buildings. He only makes out a few sentences, but he reads the secrets he has been trying to figure out for the last five years. The inscriptions read: “Evolution is the only way to survive the apocalypse.” Zach is shocked at his discovery. He runs back to tell the group what he has found, but he comes back to find the other members of his group missing. He looks all over the village for the rest of the day, trying to find his lost group members.
Zach starts to give up on his group members and begins to think that they have been eaten by the zombies. For his last place to look, he looks in the temple on top of the mountain in the middle of the village. He makes his way up the mountain and begins to hear voices in his head. “Leave, and never come back.” Zach starts to cry and scream in fear because he is so scared. As he cries like a baby, he thinks to himself, “Maybe if I rescue the group, Sarah will want to be with me.” So he musters as much courage as he can and climbs the mountain. After hours of intense climbing, Zach finally reaches the top of the mountain and finds the entrance to the temple. As he travels down the vast halls of the temple, he reads more ancient writing, it says “Do not enter, the unwanted will be killed!” These writing scared Zach, but the thought of Sarah would keep him going.
All of a sudden, Zach hears Sarah yell, “Somebody help me!” Zach runs toward the voice and finds Lucas standing in the middle of a long hallway. As Zach starts to run toward Lucas, he turns his head to face Zach. Zach stops in his path and sees that Lucas has been zombified. Lucas starts running after Zach in hopes that he will be feasting on his flesh. After running back through the temple, Zach sees the exit. He runs as fast as he can to the exit, but a zombified Butch comes around the corner waiting for him. Zach stops in his tracks, “Please don’t hurt me!” Zach screamed in terror. As the two zombies get closer and closer to Zach, he hears a faint running noise behind him. To Zach’s astonishment, it is his beloved Sarah. She runs right past zombie Lucas and grabs Zach. She pushes zombie Butch out of the way and runs with Zach in her arms.
Sarah takes Zach back to their camp in the village. Zach asked why Sarah put herself in danger by rescuing him from the zombies.
“You are a friend Zach. I would never leave you behind,” says Sarah. Zach asks Sarah why she always kept it secret that she was not targeted by any zombies. Sarah tells him this, “Well Zach, you see I have always liked you, and I really hated Butch and Lucas, so I guided you all hear to this secret village, and, while you were away, I took Lucas and Butch up to the temple on the hill and I bit and killed them. You see Zach, I have been a zombie all along, that's why zombies never targeted me because they thought I was one of them.”
“But you don’t look like a zombie” Zach said as he was still retaining the information he had just heard.
“That’s because I was able to evolve and learn how to control the zombie inside me. I always look like a normal person, but I have the zombie virus in me, so whenever I bite someone, they turn.” Sarah explained to Zach. “I killed Lucas and Butch so it would just be me and you Zach. Now we have the entire world to ourselves.”