The Undead Rising: A Story of Heroism and College Life

It was just an average day on the college campus – students getting out of classes, tutorials and emergency late-night study sessions to get ready for their upcoming exams. The only exception was Jonathan, a freshman in the popular film program. He was hard at work writing the screenplay of his dreams and hoped to submit it to the college's film festival, while simultaneously banking on a vague Netflix dream of his own.

Little did he know, however, when he trudged back to his dorm, exhausted and pleased with the work he did that day, that the zombie apocalypse had begun.

Jonathan awoke to his surprising reality amidst screams and running throngs of students fleeing the area. There was no escaping the intelligence and appetite of the zombies– and no end to the destruction these undead creatures caused in their all-consuming quest for, well, whatever it was they wanted from the living.

Despite the destruction of civilized society, Jonathan thought of one thing and one thing only keeping himself, his dorm-mates, and his new crush, Jenny, safe. As if the potential danger didn't pile on the awkwardness of not knowing how to express his feelings to Jenny, Jonathan still had to go head-to-head with the most terrifying enemy the college had ever seen.

Rather than risk themselves needlessly trying to fight one foe, the group of friends led by Jonathan went on the attack instead, gathering all the bits of knowledge they'd seen in the movies, playing video games, and from other sources to use against the endless waves of zombie.

Of course, Jonathan knew that zombie movies weren't a source of reliable, tactical information, so he and Jenny tried out the most illogical ideas; from launching fireworks and props from movies slated to shoot that day to lighting zombie BBQ pits on fire, Jonathan and his friends and Jenny devised clever attacks for whatever moves the zombies made in the vicinity of their dorm.

While fleeing from one area of the campus to another, Jonathan and Jenny had some welcomed moments to themselves, becoming even closer in the midst of the creepy chaos caused by the undead.

Apart from running, hiding, and fighting, what came to be the real climax of the story was when they eventually learned the agonizing truth that Jenny was also infected by the zombie virus and only had a few days to live. With no reliable antidote in sight, Jonathan used all the charm and wit he'd developed to bond with Jenny and make their remaining days worth living, until an unexpected solution presented itself in the form of an old professor they consulted. Just enough time remained for him to administer the antidote, turn Jenny from zombie back to human by siphoning part of Jonathan's own life-force, and save her.

In a pulse-pounding conclusion, the professor's abode, which housed the only human-developed vaccine for the virus, became a safe haven for the Zombies, which the professor had learned to control with the antidote, for the remainder of the outbreaks throughout the city.

Having saved both the college and the girl of his dreams, Jonathan basked in the glory of his contribution, though forever armed with the knowledge that in order to truly save Jenny, a part of him was also sacrificed. With that thought, Jonathan carried on and his story continued long after the zombie apocalypse had come to pass.