Dunno if you guys have heard about Haunted Halloween, but there's a contest to write a creepy story. I wrote this my junior year of high school, and I figured it could easily be repurposed for this. I know now that this isn't very original anymore because zombies are all the rage, but I wrote this LONG before the zombie craze. This was actually based on a dream I had. So... enjoy.

Her breath raced as she ran down the hill. Sweat glistened on her face in the light of the half-moon. Her pursuer was not far behind, his long arms flapping limply at his sides. She turned right and hid behind a trash can and prayed he would pass her by.

“Chloe,” He croaked. “Come out. You know I won’t hurt you. How could I hurt you? I love you.”

Silent tears slid down her face. How she wanted to believe those words. But she knew now that he was lost to her.

Footsteps were heard receding into the distance; he was gone, for now.

The cement was cold under her skin and she shivered, her breath caught in her chest and she sobbed louder as she looked at the school where they had spent their happiest year. She had been seventeen and he was eighteen, high school sweethearts and soul mates. But then…

She had been twenty-two, recently graduated from college and engaged to Devon. It was the happiest time of her life, until the epidemic struck. It began with reports on the news and escalated into being right outside the door, they called them “the Dead”.

Masses of people through out the world contracted the strange disease. Beginning by a slight grey tinge to the skin it spread until even the eyes were grey. The teeth turned yellow and rotten, hair fell from their heads. Their voice lost all gentleness, and finally a slow decomposition of the brain.

No, they didn’t die. That would have been merciful. They lost all reason to live.

Two weeks before their wedding Devon became ill, the doctors said it was just a bad virus, but both of them had doubts. Devon had soon became violent and crude, and it hadn’t stopped there.

“Chloe.” Her head jerked up as she heard something in his voice. Compassion? “Come back to me.” She shook the hope out of her mind. It was a cold, hard, lifeless voice.

She closed her eyes for a moment, steeling herself, and stood. Every muscle in her body was trembling.

Devon smiled, revealing yellow teeth that had once been so beautiful. “That’s it. Accept the dead.” He reached out his arms, bright eyes glowing.

Life without love is not worth living. She thought to herself as she took slow shaky steps into the endless embrace.

They embraced as they had never embraced before. Silence swept over the street in a wave. Life flashed through Devon’s eyes but then it faded. He caressed her face gently then squeezed her tighter. A loud crack split the silence and Chloe’s body fell, lifeless, to the ground.