After a coach did a sweep of the stadium and found no more zombies, the athletes were called to come and help out with various jobs. 

Bins and jugs were brought out and filled with water. Emergency food supplies were similarly prepared. And with everyone clean and fresh, the mood was much calmer than earlier. 

However, after watching the two men who were scratched for a few hours, it was found that their condition was getting worse. The wound began to show signs of infection, and their energy levels were reduced. They felt tired, but more fearful than anything. They were given some medicine that could hopefully help, but other than that, there wasn't much anybody could do except isolate them.

A coach had also come to check on me. They were worried about anybody having ingested fluids or the like, especially blood considering it had spilled everywhere. But unlike the ones who got scratched, I felt perfectly fine, even more so. Because of that, they didn't pay me much mind. 

At some point I had decided to send a few texts to my family and friends. I didn't actually expect to get a response, but without exception, every single person sent back a message. 

My parents assured me they were okay, while my friends did the same. One of my friends, a guy who I knew owned an entire arsenal of guns and ammo, told me that they had already killed over a dozen zombies in their neighborhood. He also told me about his awakening and ability acquisition, something I had also gotten. 

Apparently my parents were also forced to kill several zombies, and it was similarly done with guns that we owned. Because of that, both my parents awakened and got abilities. 

Everyone I knew, or at least those I was close to, was still alive and some of them had awakened. It was rather comforting, but through their messages, I was a bit surprised to find out that the situation was far worse than I knew. 

Here, we only had one person turn into a zombie. But everywhere else, my family and friends were seeing hundreds and thousands. It seemed like half of the population had turned. 

It was unknown what the criteria for turning into a zombie were, but regardless, there was a lot. It was absolutely much worse than what we experienced. 

That's when I suddenly heard an alarm. My phone, along with everyone else's, began blaring the dreadful tone of the emergency alert system.

We all listened with bated hearts, wondering about the message that was going to be sent. Some were hopeful of the situation, but others weren't. 

I sure wasn't.

"My fellow Americans. This is the President of the United States."

Everyone went silent.

"It is with a heavy heart that I inform you of this global emergency. As of October 14th 2024, an unknown supernatural occurrence changed the Earth. Through satellite data, surveillance footage, and phone data, the FBI, CIA, and Homeland Security have estimated that at least 41% of the global population has succumbed to a supernatural disease. In short, a significant percentage of humanity has turned into what can only be described as zombies."

Suddenly, everyone let out hollow breaths. 

41% of nearly 8 billion people. I didn't care about doing the math. I knew that around 3 billion people had turned, and that was just from what they could estimate. It could be even more. 

And what about the immediate deaths? 

The world was descending into anarchy. 

The alert continued.

"In this time of emergency, we must band together and fight to survive. Martial Law has been implemented, and all American military bases across the United States have been opened for refuge. Every branch of the military is now working to save anybody that has not turned, starting in major cities from Los Angeles to Manhattan. 

"We encourage everyone to form militias, gather your weapons, acquire supplies, and seek out any military personnel you may find. Gather at your nearest military installation, and take refuge.

"Do not be mistaken, this is an extinction-level catastrophe that is threatening to wipe out humanity and the world as we know it. These zombies cannot be communicated with, and the people they were prior are no more. They must be killed without prejudice."

The president continued on, speaking to anybody who would listen. 

He described the zombies and their characteristics, primarily that of bulging black veins. Their bodies would also get abnormally cold. 

However, he didn't speak at all about the awakening I experienced, or abilities. Maybe they hadn't yet acquired data on that yet, or they were hiding it until they could figure it out. Either way, it didn't become public knowledge. 

The alert ended after giving the primary locations of refuge across the country. After that, the message stopped and entered a loop, constantly replaying for anybody that had yet to listen to it. 

The entire locker room was quiet. Some people began muttering to themselves, unbelieving of the reality. I even heard one begin to cry. 

It was rather hopeless. Billions of zombies were now roaming the earth, coming from our very own neighbors. Life as we knew it was over.

There would be no more practices, no more fighting for scholarships, no more school...

Well, that last one was a bit welcomed, but there were also no more video games! The costs did not outweigh the benefits!

The water supply would soon shut down, electrical grids would go out, gas lines would cease to operate. 

Everything that needed constant maintenance and replacement would fall apart, cutting off basic necessities to entire regions of the country.

Resources wouldn't get moved around. How could anybody have continued to drive their cars through that torture? There was no doubt that every roadway in the country was blocked by destroyed vehicles. Anything that didn't fly was useless. 

Now, we were all survivors, fighting to stay alive in the midst of millions of undead monsters. And with this Archive in place, something told me that it wouldn't stop at zombies.

I couldn't help but wallow in the despairing situation. All the nice things that had once been a given were gone. I wouldn't get to go home, complain about stupid drivers, eat a slab of steak, and go to bed after hours of gaming. I had so many plans that were so quickly shattered. 

But... I wasn't totally hopeless. Maybe it was my mental fortitude. Or maybe my natural instinct to adapt and survive was kicking in, handed down to me from my millennia of ancestors who were forced to fight to survive. Either way, I didn't find myself wanting to hide in a corner. 

I felt something inside me blaze. It was an uncontrollable urge to start working. I wanted to start rebuilding. I wanted to save people, bring them together, and fight back against this existential threat. 

When faced with this enemy, I wanted to fight. 

But what were my next steps?

'I gotta get to my family.' I thought inwardly. 

My family and friends were all tight knit. There was no doubt that we could come together, pool our strength, and carve out a place for ourselves. I had an uncle who was military and had his own little farm. I had a friend with enough guns to equip a small army. Most importantly, I had people I could trust. We could rely on each other. 

So getting back to them was top priority. I quickly sent out texts, to everyone, expressing my intentions. To those that were close to my house, I let them know that I would be coming. And to my family, I told them that no matter how long it took, I would be making my way back to the house. 

This time, I didn't receive any messages back. It wasn't long after that when the stadium suddenly lost all power. 

I sighed. "That happened faster than I expected..."

Now, power was out. I looked at my phone. It was basically fully charged as I hadn't used it much today. On top of that, I had a portable battery in my car, and the battery of my car. 

My mind immediately thought of what I could get from my phone. What did I need from it?

Music would be nice, but not a priority. Money was useless now, digital or otherwise. 

A map of various locations would be nice. I could track down the locations of some warehouses that were full of supplies. I could save the locations of my friends so I could get to them. 

Without much hesitation, I immediately brought out my notebook. I began scribbling in it, writing down the step by step directions that would take me from my house to each of my friends' houses. 

This took me several minutes, after which I had a few pages worth of notes. After that, I did the same for some warehouses. 

It was about an hour later that I finally stopped. Kevin had long since come and checked out what I was doing. And when he saw me, he called me a genius and started doing the same on his phone. 

Information was extremely valuable. We had to save it while we could. 

After plotting out map directions, I went online and began surfing. I searched for any valuable information that should be useful for survival. 

That's when I stopped though. 

How was I supposed to write down pages worth of information? There was too much, and most of it wasn't very applicable.

Even survival tips weren't very helpful. Stock up on water? No duh. Save the non-perishable food? Wow, never thought of that. 

Most of it involved preparation. Well, it wasn't like I could hop on over to the store right now, so I could only make do with what I had. 

Thankfully, the coaches had stocked up on plenty of water. My only worry was the fact that there were so many of us, and across several days, it might not last. 

So my phone couldn't help me much more. Even when I did search for things, most websites had gone down. I'm sure power outages were happening nationwide. Within the day, there might not be power anywhere, aside from generators. 

The world was quickly going dark, and there wasn't anything we could do about it. 

Nightfall was especially dreadful. There were no shortage of zombie games that vehemently expressed how bad night was. You simply couldn't see as well, and nobody was sure about how zombies behaved. Could they see? Did they have super hearing? Did they sleep? Until the details were figured out, it was better to stay safe inside at night. 

So when night finally fell, the doors were long since locked down. The coaches had even done away with the gender separation, bringing everyone together in a single locker room. 

That night, nobody could sleep, at least not well. But perhaps since we had yet to actually meet any hordes of zombies, everyone was comforted by their ignorance. 

At least, that was until we heard the gunshots. 

Everyone jolted up when the sound of a cannon shook the stadium. It sounded far away, but the continuous pops and booms weren't comforting. 

"It looks like the military is nearby."

Kevin spoke hopefully from beside me. Many heard him, their hearts being invigorated by the thought of help coming. They started whispering about potential plans.

"Everyone stay put."

Seeing the rising commotion, the head coach interrupted. 

"We are going nowhere in the dark. If we're doing anything, it's happening in the daylight. Just get some sleep, in case we need to move tomorrow."

Everyone calmed down with his words. The thought of venturing out in the darkness... it easily dissuaded even the bravest. 

With that, I did my best to calm myself and succumb to sleep. Perhaps it was the stress from the day prior, but it didn't take me long to pass out.

---

{The Grace Period has ended}

---

..........

......

As the locker room was totally dark, I wasn't sure what time I woke up until I checked my phone.

"9 am, huh..."

I was a bit surprised. We had all been up late, and I had been mentally spent with all global catastrophes descending upon us. 

Turns out I wasn't the first though. I exited the locker room, almost stepping on several people who slept on the ground in the process. 

The light graced my eyes, streaming through some of the few windows in the stadium hallway. After taking a deep breath, I noticed a bit of a commotion in another room. 

I walked over, peeking into one of the projector rooms used for film study. All the coaches were there, along with several men and women athletes. They were arguing. 

"We need to make contact with someone. Anyone! We all heard the military last night, so we should be trying to find them!"

"The gunshots aren't there anymore. We have no idea where they could be. Going out there is too much of a risk."

I slipped in, deciding this was a conversation I wanted to hear. Everyone glanced at me before continuing. 

One of the guys spoke up. It was our top thrower, Elijah, a beast of a man who had been one of the final three to keep themselves awake. 

"We can't hole up in this place forever. What do we do when we run out of water? The water lines shut down last night. We're on limited supplies."

A coach massaged the bridge of his nose. "I know that, Elijah. But sending people out there..."

"I know. We'll run the risk of dying." Elijah sighed. "But unfortunately Coach, it's a risk we need to take. Whether it's for supplies or for making contact, we need to get out there. Waiting will get us nowhere except desperation."

"..." 

Everyone was silent, contemplating the abysmal risks involved with venturing out. 

The streets were no doubt filled with zombie hordes. Taking so much as a single step beyond the stadium might get you some unwanted attention. And if you got swarmed? Either find another building to find refuge in, or die trying. 

It made everyone's hearts palpitate, even mine. I had never faced true death before, and just imagining being chased down by dozens of zombies...

Without me knowing, my adrenaline spiked, making my body twitch in restlessness. 

After some silence, Elijah seemed to make a decision. 

"Coach, I'm willing to go out there first. If I can get a team, then great. But I won't sit here and hope for the best, even if it means going out there alone."

"..."

The head coach couldn't seem to respond. The burden of ordering, or even just allowing someone to go out and face death wasn't a light one. Especially when you were the coach, the leader, of over a hundred athletes. 

Which is perhaps why another coach stepped up. The throwing events coach sighed. 

"If you're going out there, then I'll follow."

"Thanks, coach."

"I will too."

Surprisingly, it was one of the girls who spoke next. She was the second one, along with Elijah and I, who stayed awake the longest. Her name was Kait, and she was one of the prettier girls that I occasionally stared at during practice. 

She frowned at their expressions of disapproval.

"What? Is it because I'm not as strong?"

Elijah shook his head slowly. "No. We just want you to stay safe. It's okay to let us guys handle it."

"Excuse you." She huffed. "But I remember being able to keep up with you yesterday, staying awake and all. And we both know about the changes in our bodies resulting from that. Believe me, I'm much stronger than before. So let me go with you."

Elijah stared at her for a long few moments.

"...Fine." He assented.

She nodded. "Thanks. I want to help too."

"I'll also go."

Suddenly, I blurted out. 

My heart beat out of my chest as everyone faced me, and I subconsciously covered my forearm where the bone rune was. 

I knew that I had an ability, one that was assuredly invaluable when fighting zombies. Knowing that, I couldn't sit back and watch as other people went out there, knowing I could not only help, but increase their chances of survival. 

Plus, I was curious about the outside. I wanted to see the hordes for myself. Perhaps I wanted to prove myself by venturing out. 

I knew that if I didn't start proactively facing this catastrophe, I may not be able to survive later on. I had to prove my ability and worth. 

Luckily, Elijah readily agreed, and along with the coach, we had a four man team. 

"Should we get more people?" Elijah asked.

I quickly responded. "I don't think we should. Less people means we can move faster. We can't be running around with a large group."

"True." He nodded. "Then I guess it'll just be us four. Plus, you have a knife. That could come in handy."

"Mm."

I nodded, feeling a bit awkward at the mention of my weapon. Still, nobody questioned it. We were well beyond that at this point. 

With that, the team was formed. We decided to leave immediately, using as much daytime as possible. 

The throws coach, Coach Todd, packed a light bag for us while we left to get ready.

I threw on one of my sweaters for protection. I didn't need to get scratched. I also had a pair of sweats already on, along with my lifting gloves to protect my hands, so I was fully covered besides my head. 

The others had similar ideas, and we soon gathered at the side of the stadium. Coach Todd carried the bag while each of us were empty handed. 

The head coach spoke to us one last time.

"Don't just wander, and don't go too far. Get up to the top of a building and start scouting. Find the military if you can, or at least their traces. And if you get your hands on supplies, then bring them back, but don't bite off more than you can handle. Your safety comes first. Just come back unharmed, regardless of your progress."

"We'll be fine coach. Alright, let's hurry."

With a wave, Elijah led us out of the stadium and into the nearby parking structure. I felt off as I passed my car, knowing I would probably never use it again. 

When we passed by Elijah's car though, he suddenly stopped and opened it. After rummaging around for a bit, he actually pulled out a machete.

He smiled at me. "You're not the only one who keeps himself strapped."

"Heh, right." I chuckled a bit.