Deserted. Empty. Desolate. That is how the world was after the Blaze broke out. A disease so deadly it turned people into mindless living zombie creatures we call Freaks, that could pass on the Blaze just by a tiny scratch of their claws, or a bite from it's teeth.

They were just not human anymore.

The Board, the 'upper community.' A society of wealthy crazy fools who sit in the comfort of the sky bound community, and fear or worry of nothing. The 'Lower life forms' as they are often called, are put in the R.O.E.P. The Refuge Of Earth's Population.

It is basically a way of the slave life. Sectors divide the people into 7 quarantine zones. All the Sectors are separated by the wilderness, and empty ruined city. They are monitored 24/7 by the Board. Each sector is surrounded by an electric barbed wire fence, and force of military guarding.

But I don't worry about that. I just go on every day minding my own business. Dreaming of what life would be like without the Sectors. But I don't worry too much. I have work in Sector 5 to keep me busy. And why would I care about life beyond the fence? Every night the howls and screams can be heard from the Freaks. It's enough to make anyone nervous about falling asleep.

"Chase! Get up lazy bones. You're gonna be late." I open my eyes and let the bright ray of sunshine drifting in my window, warm my face. "Chasten!" Mark called again. "I'm up!" I shout and sit up in my cot.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and stood. I pulled on a grease stained shirt and pushed past the tent screen door into the blinding sunlight. "Took you long enough." Mark tossed me my plate. I caught it and nodded. "What were you dreaming about this time?" He asked almost sarcastically, as we walked to the food tent.

I looked at my worn out hiking boots. "About life outside Sector 5......" He did what I knew he would. He laughed. "Chase, get your head out of the clouds. We live here. We are kept from the Blaze, we're safe, we work, we die of old age. Live a life, man."

He clapped my back, and walked ahead, chuckling. I sighed and continued to walk.

"Hey, Chet." I groaned. "It's Chase, Brad. Learn it." The buff guy laughed and swung his arm over my shoulder heavily. "Whatever. Ya'know. I'll never get used to that name. It sounds.....dog-ish, if you know what I mean. 'Go get the stick, Chase!'" He smirked, chuckling to himself.

I pushed his arm off my shoulder and jogged to catch up with Mark. Going beyond the Sector meant risk of getting infected with the Blaze. And no one wanted that. I walked to the delivery area and stood with the rest of the people who waited for the board's aircraft to bring more supplies and food to our Sector.

We unloaded the place and watched it take off. "It's a wonder people live outside the Zones.....it's just....not real." A guy muttered.I knew he meant the Board, but I thought a bit, as I went to lunch. What was life like on the other side?

I wondered if it would be like the older men had described, green and blue. Trees everywhere. Animals of all kinds. But a lot had changed since then. I had been born in the quarantine zone. I knew nothing of life outside the Sectors.

All I knew was that the board had been keeping to themselves more and more. Declining deliveries to once a week. We had been trying to not starve here in Sector 5, but it was becoming harder and harder.

I longed to venture outside the quarantine zone, but that risked me getting contaminated with Blaze, or getting attacked by Freaks, or just dying by starvation or dehydration.

Leaving was out of the question. If you left, there was no coming back. And no one had ever....ever, left the quarantine zone.

Surviving was impossible. Everyone knew it was true. But I had no way of leaving. Not now, not ever.

The day was over quickly and I went back to my tent. "So, long day huh?" I spun around. A figure cloaked in black leaned on a wooden post. "Who are you?" I asked. The person chuckled.

"That is not what you should be asking me." I backed up a little. My heart beat faster and faster. Threatening to explode from my chest. "Ok...what do you want?" I asked.

He nodded. "A better question. I'm here to give you a chance........to fly."

I laughed. "Tyler! You moron!" My friend grinned and walked into the light of my lantern. "Awww, come on. I had you spooked. Admit it!" I laughed again. "Yeah, yeah."

He sat on a stump and grinned. "Should I tell Emma you were close to screaming for your life?" I blushed lightly.

"Don't you dare." He smirked. "Ok, ok. I won't." I chuckled. "Yeah, thanks." He sighed. "So, what was work like today?" I sat on a stump. "Normal. Boring." He chuckled. "Yeah. Same here." Tyler worked on the other side of Sector 5 in the nursing and med location.

I sighed. "Nothing special happens anymore." He nodded. "I agree. So, how about we all meet on the hill tomorrow morning." I nodded. "Sure, I'll be there." He nodded, and turned. "I'll tell Emma you said hi." I chuckled. "Ok, you do that." He chuckled, and ran off. I walked back into my tent and went straight to sleep.

The next Morning, I woke up and went to the hill. Mark, Tyler, Brooke, Emma, and her brother Kyle were there already. "Hey, guys." I grinned. They nodded. "Hey." I noticed their faces were grim, and shocked.

"Whats up. Why the long faces?" The looked at each other. Finally Brooke spoke. "Well...There was..an outbreak in Sector 2. A guy came back from hunting....had a cut on his arm. No one thought anything of it....Until he went crazy. Foaming at the mouth, and writhing on the ground. Then he attacked the whole area."

I ran a hand through my short, light brown hair. "What happened?" I asked. She sighed. "They finally shot him, but half the Sector was said to be infected. They are scared out of their minds."

I nodded. "They should be." Mark spoke up. "But I thought the Board was supposed to keep us safe from things like this." Brooke nodded. "We all did....But it's been almost 60 years. The board is falling apart. From the inside."

We sighed. The whole world was falling apart. Kyle frowned. "Do you guys hear that?" We stopped talking and listened. A shrill ear piercing ring sounded out through the valley. We all covered our ears, and tried to block the sound.

When the ear shattering sound died down, we stood. Kyle helped emma up. "You ok?" She nodded. "I'm fine." He was overprotective of his sister.

"G-Guys..?" Tyler's voice cracked. We joined him at the peak of the hill and looked down on the camp. It was destroyed!

Tents overturned, houses collapsed. People running here and there. Other people on the ground, most likely wounded or dead."Sweet mother of Freaks...." Mark gasped. "Wh-what....how did this happen?" Brooke murmured.

"I-I don't know....but let's get down there." I said, starting down. We got down and looked around. "What is going on?" I asked a man who was standing, holding a brick in his hand. I could see fear in his eyes. "Hell broke loose...." He muttered. We looked at each other. "The eastern side of the Sector......Freaks broke in..."

I gulped and my heart beat harder against my chest. Suddenly a scream echoed through the air. But it wasn't a human scream...

"FREAKS!!" Someone cried. Then chaos. Everyone ran this way and that. I ran to a collapsed brick house and dove under the rubble, trying to cover myself as much as I could. I tried to keep myself from breathing to heavily, lest I be found.

The screams and yells made me shudder. People were being killed, and infected. I was scared for my life. I could see through a small crack in the bricks. Feet, people, dead bodies....Lots of dead bodies...

Suddenly a pair of greyish blueish feet landed in front of my hiding place. I stopped breathing. A grumbling snuffle reached my ears. I closed my eyes as the freak lowered its head to sniff the place where I hid.

I could smell it's rancid breath. I almost choked, as it smelled like spoiled meat and stale blood. Then it howled and ran off. I stayed curled in a ball, hearing the horror around me. I waited till there was no more sound, and waited longer still before, I slowly came out of hiding.

Everything was gone...everything had claw marks. Dead bodies filled the whole ground. The place smelled strongly of blood. I was dizzy.

"Chase!" Mark ran to me and hugged me. "I thought you were gone,man!" I was still under shock. "Y-Yeah...Where is everyone else...?" I stuttered. Mark shook his head. I don't know."

I looked over his shoulder. Tyler limps towards us. "So..you made it huh?"

We nodded. "Hey!" We turned to see the siblings walking toward us. "Where is Brooke?" Tyler asked. "We didn't see her." Kyle answered. "Did you Chase?" I shook my head. "Well, let's hope she wasn't touched."

Then we heard a strangled yelp. Running towards the sound, We saw Brooke whose foot was stuck under a pole. A infected man was foaming at the mouth and was advancing toward her, gurgling. Mark grabbed a sharp piece of glass and stabbed it into the Freak.

The creature screamed an unearthly scream and collapsed as Mark continued to stab it. Finally, it stopped. "You ok? Did it touch you?" Mark asked as he lifted the pole."

Brooke shook her head. "No...it didn't." I helped her up. "You ok?" She nodded. "It wasn't a heavy pole." I nodded. We all stood and looked around us. Fire burned in random places. The whole place was a horror.

"We can't stay here." I said picking up a med kit that was covered in dirt. "M-Mom....and dad..." Emma shivered. "They..-" "They are gone, Em." Kyle pulled her close. "We're on our own now." His sister sobbed into his shirt. "You're not on your own. We all have each other." I said.

Kyle growled. "Who made you our leader?" I was usually scared of him. He was tall and menacing. But I had just seen something worse so, I wasn't as terrified. "Chase is not our leader." Mark spoke up. "But he has a plan....Right, Chase?" I nodded. "Yeah...a plan..First, find all you can that we will need, and that would help us survive. Water, Canned food, weapons if you can."

They nodded. "Then what?" Tyler asked. "Then," I looked at them all. "We get the hell out of here." 

Yes! One Chapter down! What do you guys think?!

~Keziah