Surviving

The Beginning

The Prologue

Before everything that's happened, my friends and I would ask each other a simple question. It was one to just pass the time, to shoot the shit, as some would say. It was an entertaining question, because we all had an idea or an answer, a plan of sorts. Occasionally, I'd ask myself if we were the only ones who talk about this sort of thing, and then I'd chuckle to myself. Of course we weren't the only ones in the world. This day and age, it's hard to find anyone with an original thought.


The question, however, always had a new answer. What would you do if the end of the world started? I know it sounds like it was a dumb question for us to be asking. A couple of days ago, we'd have laughed, and made our "plans" of living in Walmart, or taking over gas stations. In a lot of cases, we'd joke about how the end of the world would bring Zombies about, and how we'd get to use our Paintball skills to help recover human kind.


What we never thought to ask each other back then, was which ones among us would be the first to die. Or which ones among us would be strong enough to persist. A couple of days ago, I thought that each of us were smart in the plans that we made. That we were each logical, but I never thought about who would actually be able to survive. Then again, that's why they call it survival of the fittest, right?

Chapter One:

“I swear if another spreadsheet comes across my desk I’m going to pull all of my hair out,” she grumbled to herself. She lifted the now cold coffee to her lips and then stuck her tongue out due to the bitter taste. She straightened the papers on her desk and swiveled in her chair to look at one of her close friends Nichole behind her. Kalida stared at the back of her light blonde hair while her friend finished saving the spreadsheet she also had open on her computer.


“I feel you on that. I hate off season for this very reason. Way to much busy work,” Nichole said over her shoulder. Although a lot of the time the people in this room mutter things to themselves, it is very rare that someone won’t reply. Working closely with the same group of people for sixty hours a week five months out of the year will do that.


“You ready for a smoke break? I know you’re not scheduled one for another hour, but you aren’t taking calls right now so it’s not like it matters,” Nichole said to her as she also swiveled around in her chair. The room held forty cubicles, and Nichole sat diagonally behind her.


“Yeah, see if Bri wants to join,” Kalida replied back.


“Bri… Bri… Briana!” Nichole snapped over her cubicle at the five foot nothing dirty blonde in the cubicle in front of her. Briana sat directly across from Nichole, and only has to stand to be able to see one another. 


“Sorry, had the headphones in. What’s up?” Briana asked looking at Nichole across the cubicle wall.


“Wanna take a smoke break?” Nichole asked her. She was already grabbing her key card and her car keys from her desk and slowly walking away from her desk.


“Yeah, I’m coming. We’re slow enough,” Briana said as she tossed her blanket from her lap to the back of her chair. Kalida followed Nichole down the aisle, as they made their way to the front door with Briana walking parallel to them. The three of them walked to the edge of the parking lot and lit up, passing back a lighter and sharing cigarette’s. Since their workplace is a smoke free campus, they have to physically leave the property to smoke. So instead, they walk to the edge of the parking lot where the boss can’t see them.


“This blows,” Nichole stated.


“It must really suck for you since you’re full time,” Kalida said to her. Nichole had been working full time hours for the company for a couple of years now, while Briana and Kalida still worked part-time.


“I bet the money’s good though,” Briana interjected.


“Plus the benefits,” Nichole added, as she flicked her cigarette into the rain gutter.


“Man, I need full time,” Kalida responded, as she lit a second cigarette.


“You and me both,” Briana said, taking another hit from her own cigarette.


“They didn’t offer it at all last year to anybody,” Kalida said.


“Yeah, I know. We can only be hopeful that we had a good season this year, and more spots are open this time,” Briana said hopefully.


The three of them stood their silently smoking their cigarettes down to the filter. The sun beating down on them, spurred them to hurry back inside due to the heat. Even though it was only May, the heat of the upcoming summer was already beating down on them.


The girls walked back to their desk, to find an email from their boss with a new assignment. Renewal outbounds. In season, their jobs were to answer the phones and answer emails to provide technical support for the software that the company sold across the U.S. In off season, their job revolved around training, outbounds for new sales and renewals, and still providing technical support for the seldom customers who worked year round.


“How many clients did you guys get this go round?” Kalida asked the other two. Briana and Nichole were opening the new spreadsheet that their team had been assigned. The spreadsheet contained close to 5,500 client accounts that were split to each member of the team. They currently only had 29 members on their team. It was typical for this sub-office of the company to lose almost half of the team during season due to the amount of stress that they endured.


“I got 189 clients to call,” Briana grumbled, obviously unhappy with the added assignment.


“Same here,” Nichole added.


Briana sat down at her desk, sliding on her headset and repositioning her blanket. With the heat outside, luckily the office kept it at a constant 70 degrees inside year round. It’s easy to tell who sits under an A/C vent, due to the numerous cubicles with blankets folded on the back of chairs or on their desks.


“Me too, I guess we should get started,” Kalida replied.


The girls finished out their day making calls back to back attempting to get client’s to renew for the upcoming year.


“Log out!” a row of voices sounded across the room. At the realization that it was closing time, every couple of cubicles, someone would state this one phrase. The news was passed along reminding each employee they could log out of the phones and begin the process of shutting down and clocking out.


“Hey, you guys want to come over for drinks?” Briana asked Nichole and Kalida. Briana and Kalida usually had drinks together once or twice a week, and spent most of their time together outside of work. The two girls had been best friends since they met in high school, and Nichole had started hanging out with them once they had both started working together a couple of years back.


“I’m in,” both Nichole and Kalida replied quickly. The three of them piled into their separate cars and followed Briana on the short drive to her one bedroom apartment. The girls parked next to each other, taking the last of the parking in the small parking lot closest to the apartment building. Filing out of their cars, Briana walked to her sliding glass door, unlocked it, and held back the curtain for the other two to follow.


“Miss, miss, please help me…” an older man stumbled to them through the parking lot. “I hurt my leg,” the man stated as he sat on the concrete. “Can you call 911 for me?” he asked politely, while stumbling over his words.          


“Uh, yeah,” Kalida said as she pulled out her smart phone. “What should I tell them?”


“I hurt my leg,” he stated. The man was obviously drunk, and did not offer any more of an explanation. He continued to sit on the ground, nursing his leg that was bleeding slightly onto the pavement.


Kalida dialed 911, and explained to the operator what the man had asked for. The operator said that someone would be their shortly. Briana stepped back out onto the side walkway, and turned on the outside light. She put her hand lightly on Kalida’s arm indicating she wanted her to take a step back from the man. The three of them stood about five feet away from the men for less than five minutes, when two police officers pulled into the complex. The first police officer to reach the man, nodded his head at us and shined his light on the man.


“Thank you ladies,” the officer said as he waved for us to go back inside. “What’s going on Harry?” the officer asked the older man, implying that he knew the man from a past event. The girls turned back inside, and left the curtain hanging over the glass door slightly open to see what was going on.


Briana went to the mini-fridge sitting atop her counter, and grabbed three beers. Twisting the cap off of one, and handing the other two to Nichole and Kalida, Briana positioned herself in front of the crack in the window. None of them had said a word since Kalida had dialed 911, not really knowing what to say to the man outside or what to say in front of him.


“Have you seen him before Briana?” Kalida asked her friend. “I don’t remember seeing him, and I’m here all the time.”


“No I haven’t seen him before. He must live up the road,” Briana replied. She ducked down a little so that Nichole and Kalida could see through the window better. Briana and Nichole were both fairly short, at about 5’2”. Kalida stood behind both of them, at 5’7” peeking over their heads.


Sipping on her drink, Kalida inched forward a bit more trying to get a clearer look outside. Doing so, she accidentally bumps into Nichole, who then in turn bumps into Briana, bumping her into the glass. Briana straightens up, pulls her shirt down and squares her shoulders.


“We shouldn’t be so nosy, it’s none of our business. Who wants a shot?” Briana asks as she walks back toward the fridge.


“Me!” Nichole and Kalida respond. Nichole walks away from the window and plops down on the couch. Kalida slowly walks up to the curtain, pulling it in a little to make the crack smaller but still able to look out.


“Anything new happening?” Briana asked as she grabbed the bottle of tequila from the small freezer box. She grabbed three shot glasses from the top shelf, and set them on the counter. She continued to pour the three shots, and then grabbed a lime from the fridge. She pulled the rock salt from a cabinet, and then proceeded to slice the lime.


“The ambulance just got here. Dude, this guy is so drunk!” Kalida whispered.


“Why are you whispering?” Nichole asked her from the couch.


“Because I don’t want them to hear me!” Kalida whispered curtly.


Chuckling, Nichole got off the couch and walked over to Briana and slid her shot closer to her. Joining them, Kalida walked over to the counter. Each girl licked the top of their hands and sprinkled salt over them. Starting with Kalida, followed by Briana, and then Nichole, the girls started a cheer going round in a circle until they finished.


“If the ocean were liquor…”


“And I were a duck…”


“I'd swim to the bottom…”


“And drink my way up…”


“But the ocean's not liquor…”


“And im not a duck…”


“So let’s down some shots…”


“And we'll all get fucked up!”


The girls licked the salt from their hands, tossed back the shots, and stuffed the limes between their teeth. With sour faces, the girls looked at each other until the burn of the alcohol rested deep in their stomachs. Setting their glasses back down on the counter, the girls reached for their beers and headed to the couch.


“I’ll get some cards,” Briana said as she walked down the hall to the bedroom.


Kalida walked back to the door, and peeked out the curtain once more. Looking out the glass, Kalida watched as the police officer struggled with the man he had called Harry.


“Hey guys! Come check this out!” Kalida whisper yelled. Nichole hopped off the couch, and stood in front of Kalida peering out the window. Briana walked up behind Kalida and nudged her over to look through the slip in the curtains.


“What the hell?” Briana whispered.


The girls watched as Harry swung at one of the police officers, tripped, and then fell on his face. The police officer stumbled backwards into the side of the ambulance, while the second officer ran up with a taser. Harry was back on his feet reaching for the officer slumped against the ambulance. In two fell swoops, Harry was upon him grasping at his shoulders and neck. The police officer holding him back with his arms locked out straight slid down the ambulance further. Harry was biting at his hands, clasping his arms, clawing at his face, and staggering closer to him. The second officer stepped up behind him, slammed him in the back, and tased him in the neck. Harry fell limp on his side.


The paramedics on the scene wheeled a gurney up to Harry, picked him up and dropped him on the gurney strapping him. One of the paramedics gave him a shot that appeared to be a sedative. The other paramedic walked up to the police officer and started tending to the scratches on his face, and bite marks on his arms.


         “Well I’ll drink to the fact that Mr. Freak out there didn’t turn into Cujo before the cops got here,” Kalida stated as she walked back to the fridge pulling out the bottle of tequila.


         “Wow. I’ve never seen anything like that before! I mean, other than what I’ve seen on the T.V. show Cops,” Briana stated as she slid her shot glass down to Kalida.


         “I’ve seen a couple of fights like that from when I was in the Navy,” Nichole stated as she licked her hand, salted it, and then passed it to Kalida.


         Shrugging off the events that had just occurred, the girls completed another round of shots, and continued on to play cards at the coffee table into the late hours of the night. After several hours, a few beers, and several more rounds of shots, Kalida and Nichole decided to stay the night to avoid driving. Nichole took the pull out bed in the couch, Kalida passed out on a recliner, and Briana slept in her room.