The dead are among us - Chapter 1 - The Barber Shop

It's the start of a warm day on the 24th of June, 2021. It's around nine am and the sun has already rose. It's bright outside and the birds are chirping. However, inside a room, it's dark, no sight of life. There's a foul smell. Then all of a sudden.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!

The alarm of a nineteen year old boys alarm clock goes off. The boy slumbers out of bed. He has dark outlines around his eyes due to a lack of sleep. He is a relatively well built, fit young lad with light brown hair. As he slumbers he tries to make it to his curtains that are blocking out most of the light to undraw them and light up the room. He does so in a tired matter only opening them two thirds of the way. He puts on his black slim jeans and plain white t-shirt and heads downstairs for breakfast.

The TV has already been left on by someone and is on the main news channel. They are reporting of some humans that have been acting extremely peculiar. As he walks past he hears the news reporter mention canabalistic type behaviour and he seems confused. He makes a cup of tea and some toast and sits down on the two seater sofa to watch more. All of a sudden it cuts off to a black screen.

"I can't be bothered to watch that rubbish, it's all a load of scare mongering and fake news" says a female voice. He looks to the side and see's the girl sat down at the dinner table. She is a tall blonde girl with her hair in a ponytail, slightly on the bigger side, with freckles and glasses. "No beth, I wanted to hear that" says the boy. Beth throws the remote to the boy and says "fine josh, go ahead, anyway I thought you were taking Brad to get his haircut at 9:30. You booked an appointment remember." Josh remembers and murmurs "shit", then runs upstairs. "BRAD COME ON WE'RE LEAVING, LET'S GO" Brad comes out of his room. He looks like a younger version on josh, he has light brown and slightly overgrown hair, whilst also being slightly tanned and with a small amount of muscle. 

As they're walking out the door josh says "we'll take the car as we're late. I can't be bothered to rush and walk there. We would probably be late if we did that." He unlocks his grey, 07 plate Vauxhall Corsa and drives away into the nearby town. They park in a nearby street to the town and have a five minute walk towards the barber shop.

They get into the barbers that's situated above a grocery store in the middle of the town. It's a small place that Josh and Brad have gone to for years. The man that owns the barbers is an old man, close to retiring called Eric. He has long grey hair, a goatee and is about five foot ten. There is relatively loud music playing in the shop as the barber is slightly hard of hearing but Josh or Brad would never complain as the barber is always really nice and they have known him for years. They both, in turn sit down to get their fresh cuts without being able to see down to the town floor because of the chair being away from the high up window on the second floor. Also without being able to hear the outside because of the music. This means they are unable to find out about the mess that is happening as they speak. 

As they are making there way out of the barber shop they thank Eric and hand him twenty four pounds for payment. "I'll see you in three to four weeks Eric" says josh. "Okay lads, have a safe journey, take care" says Eric in his deep voice. They walk down the stairs and out the door into the town floor and both stop dead in there tracks. They look at each other and both know somethings up. Even though it's a Thursday the town is usually quite busy. But no. There is no one. Not a soul in sight.

They walk down the high street and see a small cafe. There are six people inside of it, with three of them trying to pull the door shut. One person is clambering against the door trying to get in. Josh and Brad both seem to think it's a robber so try to keep there distance. As they approach the cafe they come visable to another road perpendicular to the one that they are currently on. All of a sudden there are 3 angry looking men down that road, around fifteen meters away from them. They then turn at them. They look pailer than most humans with completely white eyes. Two of them also have noticibly large gashes on there arms and necks. The person trying to get in the cafe also turns at the two boys. This is a woman and she has the same visual deformaties as the men. All four of them rush towards the boys at a fast pace screaming and roaring at them in the process. Brad is motionless, stock still, shaking. Josh grabs him by the arm and they make a run for it. They run backwards but find themselves trapped as there is another man coming back from near the barber shop towards them. The woman that was trying to get into the cafe lunges towards them but Brad dives out the way and Josh sidesteps her and tries to hit her. The woman stumbles and falls but is now the same way as the barber shop. The only way they can run is now towards the cafe. 

The people inside have now opened the door and are shouting at the two boys to get in quick. They make a dash for it. Two of the people are right behind them, just out of arms reach. One man is by the door of the cafe and as Josh and Brad run in he tries to kick the people away and shut the door. However, he only kicks one and the other grabs him and pulls him outside. A woman in the shop grabs the door and shuts it, barring it with a piece of wood that was lying in the shop. The man jumps up at the glass door and is grabbed by all five of the people and is mauled right infront of everyone. Blood splatters against the door and nearby windows and the screams of the man is heard across the town. Brad, Josh and five unknown humans are now trapped inside the cafe with five canabalistic humans outside mauling on the man that saved them. There is only one exit. Out that front door as there is no rear escape to the building. They know that as soon as they have stopped feeding on the man they will come for the others inside.