It was June 22, 2022 when the zombies took over the world.
Find it funny how there are so many twos in that date? Scientists probably would have believed it was coincidental and quite hilarious. I bet that was before they all joined them.
My name is Alexander Davis. June twenty-second, 2022 happened to be the day of my fifteenth birthday. It was extremely hot in Florida, the heat almost to one-hundred  and ten degrees. I had just been released from school on the worst of days. Wednesdays. My classes were always the worst and everyone was in a bad mood, since we were only halfway through the week.
I didn't particularly like school. I hated english, math, history, and PE, but I didn't hate them nearly as much as I hated science. My teacher knew absolutely nothing and couldn't give the class one accurate piece of information. I usually did my research on the internet, where I learned much more than I ever did sitting in a hard chair while the idiots behind me threw paper airplanes or snored away, probably dreaming of working at that gas station downtown. The best part of it was when I got out.
It may sound stupid, but I had no idea what I wanted to be when I was an adult. Of course, I didn't know it wouldn't matter anyway, since I wouldn't ever get to choose and no one would even really care. I blame the zombies for that.
I was an outcast. I had exactly two friends, Max and Magnus. They were twins, but Max had dyed his hair black nearly three years before and they were complete opposites, so it was easy to tell who was who. The brothers were both sixteen, practically a pair of yin and yang. Magnus was sarcastic, when Max was shy. Magnus was stubborn, when Max was kind. Like I said, complete opposites. They're a package deal, though. You can't just have one or the other as a friend.
I always walked with them from school. They were in eleventh grade, while I was stuck in tenth. It wasn't easy being the youngest in the crew and also being a girl, but I was able to keep up with them.
"Happy Birthday, Madam!"
I smiled and gave Max a playful punch on the arm.
"Just because you speak French doesn't mean I should be called Madam."
"Vous etes simplement jaloux!"
Max was quite simply a genius. He knew Italian, French, Spanish, and of course, English.
"Shut up, Max."
Magnus knew English and Cuss. That was about it.
Max went quiet and I glared at Magnus.
"You shut up, Magnus. Don't talk to him like that."
"You sound like my mom, Davis."
"You sound like like a-"
I didn't get to complete my sentence. Max yelled, "Race you guys!" and climbed up the neighborhood sycamore tree. I'd tried explaining what exactly sycamore meant to Magnus. He didn't process information the same way Max did and ignored me. I didn't mind though. It was just the way Magnus was.
I followed Max up and beat Magnus to the top by half a minute. Max was strongest of us, while Magnus was the slowest and probably the weakest.
"Why do we even waste our time up here?"
I chuckled. Magnus very obviously hated climbing trees.
"Just because you're lazy doesn't mean we shouldn't enjoy it ourselves!"
He shook his head and made a very rude gesture with his right hand. I pushed him off his branch, which made me feel better about it.
"Hey, I've got a job you know! Getting injured would seriously threaten-"
"Keeping you in line is a full-time job! And getting a few scratches wouldn't put a dent in your official job of testing out video games!"
Magnus growled on the ground and Max cracked up beside me. Like I said, it was possible to keep up with them.
Max and I quickly climbed down and started heading home.
"Aren't you two going to help me up?"
"Nope."
Magnus slowly got up and dragged himself behind us. I swear, he was one of the laziest people on the planet.
"Is that how the monsters in Dead Space walk? If so, you're doing a mighty fine impression."
That was another thing. Magnus loved Dead Space and Call of Duty. Actually, he just loved violent video games, but those in particular.
"He wouldn't know how to walk like Isaac Clarke if Clarke himself smacked him in the face."
Max knew all there was to know about the video games, he just didn't play them. He found books much more interesting.
"I heard that!"
"You were supposed to, Magnus!" I yelled back at him. Max laughed and we started running. Magnus ran behind us, but couldn't keep up as well as I could.
We made it to my house on Bakersfield Street. It was a tidy little neighborhood, but I didn't like it all that much. I wanted to travel to greater places.
"We going in or are we just going to sit and wait for a few hours?"
Max looked behind us and started heading in.
"At the pace he's going, it'll take a few hundred years."
When we got inside, confetti burst through the air. Max yelped beside me and Magnus swore outside the door.
"What the- Oh."
I looked at the smiling faces of my parents, my little brother, Ethan, and my little sister, Mason. Some people found it funny how my mother was the only woman in the family with a female name. Heather and Everrett Davis had given birth to only one boy, yet his two daughters also carried the legacy of having mostly male names. Why?
My father believed strength was destined through what you named someone. Since we were both female, he figured the only way we'd be able to survive was if we had strong names. So, Mason and I took our names freely. We didn't mind. Mason couldn't really mind though. She was only four.
"Happy Bwirthday, Alex!"
Six year-old Ethan looked more like Max and Magnus than he did anyone in my family. He was like a mix of the two, with Max's blonde hair and blue eyes and Magnus's personality. He wasn't exactly as mean as Magnus though. Max influenced him to be at least a little bit gentlemanly.
"Thanks, Mr. Dinosaur!"
"RAWR!"
Ethan erupted into giggles and Mason wrapped her arms around his waist. She smiled up at me and I put a strand of her hair behind her ear. She laughed and gave me the biggest hug she could mange.
I loved my siblings. They were the most adorable you could ever ask for. My parents on the other hand, were a bit more antagonizing.
"Where have you been? It's been nearly twenty minutes since school got out!" My mother asked, picking up Mr. Scrubbles, our cat and raising her eyerbrow. "You know I don't like you out there too long."
"Just climbed a tree, mom."
"You did WHAT?"
"Nothing, mama."
I gave her a peck on the cheek and walked past my father with Max and Magnus. Before we could get away, he yelled, "One of you two her boyfriend yet?"
I hated it when he did that. I turned scarlet and dragged them into the kitchen.
"Why does he ask us that every time we come over?" Max asked me, taking a chair by the radio on the counter.
"He's my dad. What else is he supposed to ask?"
"How was school? Did you have a good day? Should I own a shotgun? Any guy I should shoot for flirting with you?"
"You know he asks me that everyday too, right?"
Max laughed and Magnus slumped into the chair beside him.
"Did you kill anyone on you way back home?"
I shot a stare at Magnus.
"I'm not surprised you haven't yet. But you're so lazy, I think they'd get away before you could manage to do anything."
He grinned and gave me a thumbs-up.
"Your sarcasm gets better everyday."
"You get harder to look at everyday."
Max gave me his usual skeptical look. When I got too sarcastic, he'd look at me and I'd know what to do.
"Sorry."
Magnus had a long scar from his neck down to his left elbow. He hated it when people said something even remotely related to it.
"Was that supposed to be funny?"
"Just forget it, Magnus."
He did and asked me where the cake was.
"Not sure, but there's probably some in the-"
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO-"
"There it is."
My family had collected themselves from the doorway and walked into the kitchen with a cake, turning the lights off in the process. The candles were the only source of light in the entire house now, other than the sunlight leaking through the windows.
Mac and Magnus joined along with the singing. Everyone was beaming with joy. Magnus managed to keep most of it contained, but he still had a smile on his face which was good enough for me. Mom set the cake on the counter and Dad put his hand on my shoulder. Ethan and Mason danced with each other and giggled while I put my arms around both Max and Magnus. They finished and Mom told me to blow out the candles and make a wish.
I closed my eyes and thought of what I possibly could want.
I took one last glance around the room before closing my eyes and blowing out the candles all at once. The whole room went dark.
Then all hell broke loose.

~~~

Time sped through my eyes as glass and dirt raced into the kitchen. I heard my family scream and Magnus swear... and then there were groans. I swore they were the worst thing I'd ever heard. It was the sound of an animal that hadn't eaten in days and was thirsty for something they couldn't reach...
I found Max and Magnus first. Magnus was already on his feet, whereas Max was still on his knees. His arms were cut and he had a long gash down his face, like he'd been crying blood. I helped him up and looked for my siblings. I found Ethan crying on the floor and he crawled onto my back, sobbing into my shirt. As I turned to find my parents and Mason, I came face to face with a monster.
I backed away and grabbed the kitchen knife. It was bigger than the rest and I held it out to the thing. I'd heard of theories before about zombies coming to life, but never had I actually thought it was possible. Whatever this was, it looked like what multiple fan sites had described. Dirty bodies, torn in multiple places, missing flesh and bone... Some had no teeth and others no hair. Their skin was dirty and an unnatural shade of brown and green. Their eyes were bloodthirsty and I'm sure their mouths were too.
I had no knowledge of what to do except get their heads off their ragged bodies and burn them all until they were gone...
Magnus noticed it next and his eyes went wide.
"They look like Necromorphs!"
"SHUT UP, MAGNUS!" Max screamed, grabbing my wrist and his, running in the other direction.
"We have to find my family!"
"Forget it, Davis! They're as good as dead!"
"Or worse." Max muttered.
"Don't say that." I said to him, holding onto his wrist tighter.
I stopped them and gave Ethan to Magnus.
"Get to the car and wait for me. If I'm not there in two minutes, get out of here."
"We're not leaving without you." Max said.
"GO NOW!" I screamed, running with the knife towards the kitchen and the zombies. Max yelled after me before Magnus dragged him towards the garage door.
I got to the kitchen and found four zombies devouring my mother. I didn't scream, though I had wished I could have. My father was by the foot of his chair, his head already separated from the rest of him. Only two zombies were clawing at him, eating at his flesh and tearing him to pieces. They bit them over and over again. I couldn't watch. I looked towards the corner of the room and saw a zombie approaching Mason. She was screaming her heart out with Mr. Scrubbles in her arms. I could almost hear the hungry laugh escaping the zombies throat. I lunged myself towards it and threw it up against the wall. It groaned and grabbed me around the waist. My hand flew up and the knife slit his throat, making his head and the brains he wished he had onto the floor. Mason ran into my arms and I picked her and Mr. Scrubbles up, running out of the kitchen. I could hear the slow footsteps of the others behind me and I made an effort to reach the garage as quickly as I could. I crashed into the garage and threw Mason and the cat in the car. Max pulled me into the backseat with him and Magnus raced out through the wooden garage and past dozens of zombies who were headed to our house.
Magnus told me he'd wondered why we'd only gotten a few into the house. We immediately knew why once we got outside. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of zombies that had ambushed our neighborhood alone. As far as I could see, no one had been prepared for anything like this and no one living was left, unless they were hiding in their houses. Mr. Scrubbles struggled to get out of the car window and Magnus rolled them all up, passing him to me.
"You need to hold onto him. If you don't, I'll throw him out myself."
"DRIVE, YOU IDIOT!"
He didn't argue and raced down the rest of Bakersfield Street. Max offered his hand and I took it. He offered his other to Mason and she quickly grabbed onto it.
It made me feel like everything was perfectly fine.
But inside my head, I knew that everything was ruined.
And the worst wasn't even here yet.
Happy Birthday, Alexander.