Азизбек Карамзин - Apocalypse «Beginning of the End»

Sooner or later it had to happen. They came for me… though it seemed a little different.

This overcast morning I was awakened by a roar coming from the back of the change house. I jumped out of bed and listened. For the first few seconds, it seemed that only the beating of my heart was heard, giving off a pulsation in my ears. I tried to calm down, and after a moment the feelings escalated.

Outside the small window, the wind swayed the trees. It was about to start raining. “Maybe I had a dream…” – I thought, and just about to exhale with relief, something boomed outside again. I carefully pressed myself against the wall and now I could clearly distinguish wheezing and sobbing behind the thin walls.

Weapon! We need some kind of weapon! Why didn't I prepare for this before?

Fire shield on the wall of a neighboring change house! There's an ax in there! Thoughts were quick and clear, and time seemed to slow down. I opened the door and, making sure that the way was clear, I ran out into the street. Within seconds, I had a long, double-edged fire ax in my hands. Even though I covered a distance of only ten meters, my breath was hit by the surge of adrenaline.

The infected heard me, of that I was absolutely sure. They will definitely come to the sound, now it's only a matter of time. The sound for them is a clear signal that the victim is somewhere nearby. It started to rain, but I was still hot. I stood and waited for them to appear from around the corner, but they were not there. The long wait was depressing. His eyes fell on the road leading from the construction camp to the city.

The rain began to fall a little harder, and the wind died down. I could hear the infected wheezing and sniffing around the corner, but they were in no hurry to show themselves to me.

“If these have come, then others will come,” I thought. – You can't hang around anymore. We need to get out of here, go home to Novosibirsk, find my sister and niece, pick them up, and together get out into some wilderness, where the infected are unlikely to get. We need a car and some kind of weapon.”

In Nobosibirsk, I visited a shooting club and shot well. Twice I even participated in clay shooting competitions, and once the competition ended in my victory.

Perhaps the military is still handing out weapons… I felt the jacket in the breast pocket and made sure I had my passport with me. When I left the construction camp, the wind finally died down, but the rain continued to pour in a measured wall, muffling the sounds. Despite the fact that I was lightly dressed, and all my things had been wet for a long time, it was not cold. I just didn't think about it as I continued walking along the road, prudently hiding in the bushes and trees on the side of the road. I took my time, thinking about how best to proceed. It was impossible to give in to despondency and think about the bad in any case. It will shake my mind, drive me crazy or kill me, however, now it's the same thing.

I was reminded of a movie I watched once. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember the name. The world in it was destroyed either by war, or by cataclysms … Not the point, the film was about a father and son who walked through the ruins of destroyed cities south to warmer climes. Along the way, they encountered different people, and almost always these random people they met turned out to be far from the most worthy people. Some of the people they met were robbers, others turned into cannibal killers who did not want to get food in another way. People hunted each other, huddled in packs to corner and devour the weaker like hyenas, and the weak were many, and they were doomed.

I thought about whether this happens to people in the real world? Will the same transformation happen over time? Who knows, I wanted to believe that not, because there is a common threat that should rally people … Let's wait and see.