The night that followed was peaceful, which was unexpected on behalf of the whole of Artull. The morning came and Valerie woke up just after 10.
She got up, freshened up, got dressed and rushed down to the kitchen where she cooked up something very quickly. Eggs on toast.
With her filled, she remembered the list that Ms Johnson gave her. Since she was going to the shops next, she looked into the pair of jeans she wore yesterday and fished out the piece of paper.
Getting her keys from her car, she checked her phone to see if she received any messages from her boss in correlation with Tim. However, nothing. She got an email from Blazer, a well-known clothing brand, about how they were changing their terms and conditions, something she didn't care about.
As she unlocked the door, the morning greeted her with sunshine, there were a few clouds in the sky. Compared to yesterday morning, with the cold temperatures, it seemed like that was months ago.
Unlocking her car and getting into it, she turned on the engine and backed out of her driveway. The closest shop was a mere five-minute drive from her home. Parking in the parking lot of the store, Valerie expected there to be more people.
Getting herself a cart, she walked into the shop and from aisle to aisle, she looked at what both she and Ms Johnson needed. Eggs, milk, cereal, flour, onions, you name it, Valerie got it. Feeling like she got everything, she made her way to the till where the cashier scanned and packed everything for Valerie. After paying, she got all her groceries before making her way back to her car.
She had to make her way back home since the cashier packed the groceries she bought for both Ms Johnson and herself altogether. So separating the things she bought for Ms Johnson, she made her way to their front door.
Knocking, it took a few seconds for Ms Johnson to open. A smile grew on her face when she saw Valerie. "Thank you so much, sweetheart.".
"Do you want me to drop off the groceries for you in the kitchen, Ms Johnson?" Valerie asked.
"If you don't mind, that would help me a lot.".
"Of course.". And with that, Valerie walked into the Johnson home.
Walking past the living room, Valerie looked into the room and immediately, her eyes landed on Mr Johnson. He seemed in bad shape, with him lying on the couch and two blankets over him. "Good morning, Mr Johnson," Valerie greeted him, keeping her voice low. She saw he acknowledged her, however, all he could do was merely raise his hand in response. Either way, it was enough for Valerie. She continued walking and reached the kitchen.
Walking to an empty countertop, Valerie placed the grocery bag on it for Ms Johnson to unpack.
Behind her, the door opened and Ms Johnson walked in with a few notes of money in her hands. "How much was it, dear?".
"Don't worry about it, Ms Johnson," Valerie spoke out as she began her way toward the door. However, the older woman blocked her path, handing out a note of 50 Veursian Dollars. Valerie widened her eyes, it was nearly twice the value of the groceries she got for the Johnsons.
"Take it," Ms Johnson said.
"Ms Johnson, that's too much... I can't take that.".
"Take it, you'll need it... I don't want to argue with you.".
Valerie felt as though her hands were tied. She knew Ms Johnson wouldn't budge if she didn't take the money. "Ms Johnson...".
"Take it. Take the money, Child.". She paused. "At least use it for the fuel, I hear how the prices jumped in the last few months.".
Biting her lip, Valerie gave in and took the note. "Thank you, but this is too much...".
"Like I said, Valerie, I don't want to argue.". She paused, watching Valerie walk toward the door. "Thank you again, Dear.".
"Thank you too, Ms Johnson.". And with that, Valerie left, closing the door behind her.
Valerie made her way back home, entering it, she immediately sorted out her groceries before making her way to the living room. Turning on the television, she shuffled through the channels until reaching a programme that talked about what happened last night. The show that had the epidemiologist Damon Hugh as their guest. 'A scandal', as they called it.
The host of this show investigated why the show was cut off air so suddenly, saying that the nonsense that was said was propaganda against the progression of the people in such hard times as this. Further adding, 'There had the be an end put to what was said last night.'.
However, such brought back up what Valerie heard last night, furthermore what she read online. So, standing up and walking over to her laptop, she sat in the chair opposite the table. Opening up her laptop and then the search browser, it remembered her latest search. Clicking onto it, it brought up the same article she read last night, at the very top. Valerie clicked into images, which showed different depictions of 'zombies'.
Some of the images she saw resembled closely what was in the forest yesterday. And it was that that made her stomach drop ever so slightly.
An image caught her eye and clicking on it, it redirected her to another website. With it buffering for a minute, once loaded, at the very top, it gave her the definition of a zombie. 'A corpse reanimated back to life.'.
She gulped. What she saw looked like a corpse.
With her letting out a deep breath, she closed the tab before getting her phone. Opening her contact list, she dialled a friend of hers. Lisa Forensic.
The call rang twice before she picked up. "Hello.".
"Hey, Lisa. Are you busy right now?" Valerie asked.
"No, I'm on break. Where are you?? I haven't seen you in today. Still out at the crime scene?".
"N-no..." Valerie began. Such a question made her question herself on why she called her.
"Then where are you?".
She thought through what to say. "I'm at home...". However, it was a task harder than she imagined.
The silence was all that was heard from Lisa for a mere moment. "Called in sick?".
"More like... something happened yesterday... I had a word with the Chief about it..." Valerie responded, drawing shapes on her couch.
"Are you alright?".
"I-... I'm fine... I suppose.".
"Don't say it like that..." Lisa began. "You'll have me worried for you all day now.".
"I'm fine. I'm fine.".
"That's better," Lisa responded, chuckling ever so slightly. "You know what's also strange?... I haven't seen Tim nor Gemma today either...".
Valerie's stomach turned as her throat slowly began to dry up. Should she tell Lisa? Of course, she should.
"About that..." Valerie began, letting out a dreaded sigh. "I was dispatched with Tim and a few others... We got attacked in the forest, both us, Team Alpha and the other group that came to help us, Team Beta... Tim and myself were the only ones who got out of that forest, alive.".
Valerie heard Lisa hitch a breath. "S-so Gemma... Una... they are all...".
"I tried, Lisa... I even told Chief Raymond...".
"I'm glad you're alive and well though," Lisa said. "How's Tim doing?".
"He's in the hospital now. Got a bite to the leg by a dog. He bled out quite a bit," Valerie replied. "Chief told me he'd update me if the hospital calls him.".
"And then you call me too, tell me what they say about Tim...".
"Alright.".
"And is that why you called me?" Lisa asked.
"Actually... no..." Valerie responded, standing up. "You're a forensic scientist, the only one I know... and I don't know if you can tell me this, but... if you've worked on a dead body recently, did you pick up on something strange about it?".
Initially, the silence was all that Valerie from Lisa. "I- I am not too sure what you're asking me, Val...".
"You know how I told you we were attacked in the forest?".
"Go on..." Lisa prompted Valerie to continue.
"We weren't attacked by people, so to say.".
"Was it an animal attack?".
"No, it was corpses that attacked us, or so it seemed like it... and I know how crazy it sounds, Lisa..." Valerie elaborated.
"I'm sorry... but if you weren't my friend, I'd think you're fucking nuts.".
"Lisa... just... can you tell me whether you've seen anything unusual with the bodies you've examined?".
"There's only so much I can say, due to confidentiality," Lisa explained.
"I know that," Valerie replied. "All I need is a yes or a no.".
"If so, then my answer is no..." Lisa responded. However, she continued seconds later, "Are you sure you're okay, Val?".
"I'm fine, like I said, Lisa.".
"Don't get annoyed at me for trying to look out for you. You've just told me now that you've been attacked yesterday by a group of corpses...".
"Like I said, I know how crazy it sounds. But I know what I saw, Lisa. And so does Tim," Valerie responded. "We've been through hell and back in that fucking forest.". She paused for a second, clearing her throat. "Look, I'm sorry if I sounded angry... it's just that Boss told me the same thing yesterday when I told him too...".
'Could it just be all in my head?'. Valerie began to doubt herself.
"Don't be... I understand, although not fully, I somewhat do," Lisa began. "I can look into it for you, any... oddities found. Though I can't promise anything useful will come out of it.".
Valerie let out a slight sigh of relief. "Thank you, Lisa... I don't want to take away from your work time though...".
"Don't be ridiculous, you won't," Lisa let out a gentle laugh. "Anyway, I have to get going now. I'll phone you up if I find anything.".
"And I'll phone you up if I hear anything else about Tim," Valerie replied.
"Alright, take care. I can't wait to see you again.".
"Same," Valerie responded. "Bye for now.".
"Bye.". And with that, the call ended.
Valerie placed her phone on the coffee table before standing up and walking to her kitchen to begin making dinner.
Hours passed and with it was time to eat, Valerie poured a portion of her cooking into a plate and ate it all. After that, she went back into the living room where she spent the rest of her day. Watching the Television and dying of boredom. Her eyes would often move to her darkened phone screen, wondering when a message would come through from her boss, or Lisa, informing her of her findings.
She made her way back to the kitchen before grabbing a tub of ice cream she bought earlier that day. Getting a spoon, she returned to the couch where she turned on a movie as she opened the tub of ice cream and began eating it.
From time to time, she would pause, hearing the strings of coughing coming from her next-door neighbours, the Johnsons. Seconds took for the coughing to pass, but minutes later it was heard again. This went on for about half an hour before quiet was all that was heard.
And it was around then that Valerie fell asleep on the couch, a bit into the movie.
With the tub of what was left of her already-melted ice cream falling and spilling on the floor, Valerie was shaken awake when her phone began ringing.
It took her a moment to realise where she was. The television showed nothing but static as was its white noise that filled the room.
Reaching over and grabbing her phone, Valerie glanced at the Caller's ID. It was her boss.
Immediately, she answered it. "Hello, Boss??" she tried not to make it obvious she just woke up from a nap.
"Valerie..." her Chief's voice sounded distressed. It sent shivers down her spine.
"Boss?".
"You were right... they are everywhere."