Spoiler
I'm saying this again because some of you guys may not have read the original version. I had written extra parts and segments to make the story more full of life and emotions. (I hope) I got my inspiration from the movie: I am Legend. I hope you all will enjoy the story and please review it. That's all I think! 
Death Wish
There was an annoying ringing deep inside my ears. The explosion that destroyed my family's house had punctured my eardrums. I could not hear anything. I was lying on my back. I looked to my side and saw my brother slumped on the floor. Our parents were beside him. Soot and dust covered their faces. I tried calling them but I couldn't even hear my own voice. Deaf and mute temporarily, I crawled towards them amidst the rubble and remains of our house.
I looked down and noticed my shirt was on fire. I patted it out and checked for injuries. A piece of glass was stuck at my thigh. I took a good look and wondered why I was not feeling any pain. I heard the mutants' screams as they attacked the soldiers outside. Gunfire and more explosions. But they were distant and far away like an alien planet. Only my family mattered. I held back the tears and felt for Joel's pulse. It was weak, but steady. He was going to be fine.
My parents on the other hand, didn't look too good. Dad's arm was at an awkward position with his ulna poking out from his skin. Blood was all over him. Mom's head was missing. Apparently, high velocity shrapnel had torn it apart. The vertebrae was visible for all to see. I swallowed my saliva and stared at the stub where my mother's head used to be. I tried to vomit but only bile came out from my mouth. The tears were already flowing. Dad's eyes were closed.
Are they dead?
Near panic, I fumbled for their wrists and placed my finger on them. No pulse. I tried again, not believing my own senses. Nothing. As still as a dead mouse. I closed my fists and punched the floor till blood flowed from the knuckles. My hands trembled and I couldn't breathe. They were dead. That was the truth.
I had to get out. I had to bring Joel somewhere safe.
I looked at my parents for the last time. We thought we would be safe. We thought the military would clean up their own mess. We thought we'd live happily ever after. The dream was shattered now. Joel and me were all alone. We couldn't give up. We had to live.
I hauled my brother's limp body over my shoulder and carried him out to the backyard. The fire inside was getting too intense to bear. I heard my parent's bodies burning as I brought Joel to the abandoned warehouse behind my house. The bodies crackled; their blood stream popping as the hostile flames boiled every fluid in their bodies. I fought back the desire to puke and laid Joel on the cool cement floor. He was still not awake. I hated being the bearer of bad news.
***
I glanced up and saw the crumbling Lady of Liberty. Her legs were all that remained of her once glorious form. It was a reminder for both of us. It was a grim reminder that the world had changed.
“Water?” my younger brother asked.
“No, thanks.”
The cars around us were abandoned. Long forgotten. There was no more petroleum in New York. It was a barren waste land. Long gone were the noisy crowds and yellow taxis. We were the only ones left. Me and my brother.
I gripped my rifle and smiled at my brother to assure him that I was fine. He frowned and took a sip from our already depleting water supply. I watched his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he drank. I swallowed my saliva.
“Move. We don’t have much time.”
“Alright, alright. I’m just thirsty.”
“And I’m not? Get your bag and let’s move.”
I waited for my brother to pick up his bag while I looked at the yellowish map. It was the only map left in New York. I opened the folded piece of paper with care and glanced at it. We were still miles away from the safe house. We really overextended ourselves this week.
Once my brother was ready, we resumed our walk along the empty pavements. We could always spot the things that reminded us of the good old days. A Pepsi can. An empty Tupperware. Sometimes, even old video game discs. We missed those games. Yes we did.
My brother followed behind me as I led the way. I had memorized all the possible routes to the safe house. Some roads were off-limits while some were relatively safe. I had marked all the safe paths in the map. In case of an attack, I could never be too careful.
My bag was a lot lighter than last week. Our food was running low. No deer or goat to be seen in the streets of New York. We even went to the zoos, but they were empty. Even with the bright sun glaring down on the city, the animals refused to come out. They were smarter than us.
I stared at the large television screens attached to the decaying buildings. They were dark and dusty. Not so long ago, they were producing sharp videos and wonderful sounds. Now, they were a forgotten relic of the past. I caught a glimpse of my brother staring at them too. He kept tapping his palm with his fingers. I smiled. He definitely missed his iPhone.
We continued walking till the sun was almost swallowed up by the horizon. Fear gripped me as I gulped. My brother went pale and followed closer to me. Dusk was almost here. No time left.
“Shit. We still have two miles left to the safe house,” my brother said to me.
“Shut up. I’m trying to listen. You should, too.”
My brother closed his mouth and gripped the handle of his M-16. He was scared. And so was I. The monsters of the night were not to be underestimated. We had to get to the safe house. With any means possible.
I broke into a slow jog and, continuing to look behind me to make sure my brother was still alive. Those damn things were fast. Really fast.
The empty and crumbling shop houses were the perfect ambush positions for them to attack. We jogged towards the wide road instead of the pavements. One thing you first learned in this place was not to be at the pavements at night. Bad mistake to be there.
One mile left.
I jogged even faster as the hairs on my back prickled stiff and my skin grew paler. My instincts were more often right than wrong. The ugly scar on my back was proof of when I doubted them. They were coming alright. They were coming for us.
I almost fell when the road vibrated from the heavy footsteps of the creatures. My brother went sprawling on the ground. I turned back and managed to get him back up. I noticed his water bottle was cracked and precious fluid leaked out. I didn't have time to grab it from the road. It would be the least of our problems.
Another round of intense vibration rocked the streets of the decaying city.
Then, I saw them. The monsters that were once humans. Twisted beyond imagination. They had no hair or fur. Pieces of clothing from a different era were ripped and torn. Their skin were almost white and only two holes to replace the nose. The teeth were brown with dry blood but were razor sharp. However, it was the eyes that were really freaky. Mad and hungry. Hungry for our flesh.
Millions of them were running towards us like homing missiles. Some were jumping over cars and trucks. Only pure instinct and hunger drove them. There was no leader or boss among them as far as we knew. So the rules of chess didn't apply here. We needed to kill all of them.
"Run and shoot! Run and shoot!" I shouted at my brother.
I fired a few rounds from the AK-47. A couple of the creatures' heads were blown off by the full metal jacket bullets. The others didn't even bother about their fallen brothers. They kept on coming.
"Fuck! Why're there so many?" my brother said.
"Shut up and run, asshole!"
Adrenaline pumped into my bloodstream. My pupils were dilated and I could see in the dark like a bat. With my night vision, I noticed some of the creatures were surrounding us from the sides. They were jumping across the roofs, determined to outsmart us. My heart skipped a beat. They were never that smart to coordinate this kind of organized attack. They had changed.
"Joel! Split up and meet me back at the safe house!"
"What?!"
"Just get your ass away from me!"
I changed course and ran to the right along John Street. I saw Joel running to the left and I thanked God that he followed orders for once. The creatures screamed. I winced from it. Some of them tried to ambush me from the front but I shot them before they could do anything. I reloaded and ran even faster. I said a short prayer that Joel would survive the night. He may be annoying, but he was still my brother.
I took a sharp turn to the right. I almost tripped when my leg got caught at a loose rock. My good sense of balance saved me from an almost imminent death. A few seconds were all they needed to rip my throat apart. I fired a full clip to slow them down a little. They were getting a little too close for comfort.
I pulled out the empty clip and slammed in a new one.
Three clips left.
I held my gun and sprinted across the empty street. I was almost there. Salvation awaited.
I heard another scream and almost fell from the pain in my ears. I breathed in deeply and fired at a group of mutated humans directly behind my back. I welcomed the familiar bursts of blood as their heads were blown off.
I saw the safe house. It was right in front of me. Joel could not be seen anywhere. I cursed and ran straight onto the lawn. Flood lights were placed around the house. I had to fucking switch them on.
Desperate, I kicked the door open. I screamed as one of them clutched my arm as I tried closing the door. I panicked and slammed the door close. The arm got severed and blood gushed down onto the floor. The fingers were still wrapped around my arm. I pulled it out and dropped it on the floor. I hurried to the switch box and my leg got caught at a table. I fell and hit my head. Darkness almost swallowed me but fear brought me back.
I got up like a drunk man and flicked the switch up. Bright light flooded the lawn. I smelled that familiar cooked meat odor as the creatures' skin burned under the light. I wobbled to the reinforced windows and took a look.
The creatures were running away now. Defeated, some tried sprinting into the lawn but I was rewarded when they shrieked in pain. Their cries were so good to listen to.
Joel......
I opened the steel door and peered outside. They were gone. Some bits of skin were scattered around the lawn. It was quiet. Too quiet.
"Joel! Joel! Where are you?" I called.
I saw a tiny dot in the dark horizon. It was heading towards me. I squinted as I looked at it.
I closed the door behind me, hearing the automatic locking system activating. I jogged towards the dot, hoping for the best.
***
I took out the knife and slashed the deer's gut open. My brother looked on with fascination gleaming in his eyes. He never skinned before. The job was handed to me when something needed skinning. Blood gushed out, making a mess of my hands.
With the full moon in the sky, I prepared the deer with skilled and precise movements. The soft glow of the moon kept me from cutting off my own finger. I didn't want to lose anymore of them. My middle finger had been chewed away by one of the creatures.
"Get some firewood. I'll finish this soon," I whispered to him.
"You crazy? There might be some of them hiding in the forests," he replied.
"The moon's bright enough. They won't come out. Trust me."
"Well, you're not the one going in there. Easy for you to say."
"Fuck off, man. Just go. It's almost done."
He crossed his arms. With a frown, he got up and unslung his rifle. He looked at me with fiery eyes. He was not happy of the idea.
I sighed and flapped my free arm at him, signaling him to go already. As I stabbed at the liver, red blood squirted out and covered my face. I spat out some of the blood in my mouth and cursed.
Joel smiled with that stupid grin of his. My fist was so tempted to make contact with his handsome face. Maybe even giving him a good kick in the gut. But the feeling passed. It was so childish of me to have thought of that.
Not noticing my near eruption, he walked off towards the trees. Soon the darkness swallowed him, and I could no longer see him anymore. I breathed in a sigh of relief and concentrated on my job at hand. It was going to be a long night.
The deer laid on the dirt, ready to be cooked. But that stupid brother of mine was still missing. I grunted and stomped my feet on the ground. My stomach rumbled. I frowned and cursed at my brother for his laziness. What a jerk.
The full moon looked down on me. Its welcoming glow provided me cover from the mutants. But it will not protect Joel from my wrath. He was late and the deer was simply wasting away on the dirt.
Suddenly, I heard a scream. I perked up my ears, trying to listen. It didn't sound like a human's scream, so Joel being in danger was out of the question. It was those things. They had smelled us.
I grabbed my rifle from the ground and searched for any signs of them. The deer behind me was forgotten momentarily. There were more important things to think about. Like trying to save our asses from monsters. My heartbeat elevated as adrenaline began pumping hard. More screams. I winced and held my gun closer. They were close.
Out of nowhere, they appeared from the bushes and ran towards me. I squeezed the trigger and some of them went down. But more were coming. I felt my stomach doing somersaults as a large group of ugly creatures attacked me with nothing holding them back. I shrieked and fired the AK-47.
I'm going to die. I'm going to die.
Few more seconds and I will be killed. They didn't need smarts to defeat me. Just brunt force was enough.
Grrmn! Grrmmn! Grrmmnnnn!
What was that sound? It sounded like-
"Hey, this is fun! Yahoo!"
Stunned, I dropped my jaw as I saw my brother smashing the mutants with a dump truck. I didn't even know Joel could drive. I stopped shooting, afraid I might accidentally hit him. He kept laughing as he flattened any zombies unlucky enough to be in his way.
I finished off the ones that were too far for Joel to hit. Once the area was clear, I jogged towards the bloody dump truck with amusement. The dirt was covered with thick blood and some pieces of messed up organs. The stink from the truck made me pinch my nose. The smell itself could have killed all of them.
Had my own stupid brother saved me?
Joel climbed out from the truck, grinning from ear to ear. He opened his arms, expecting me to hug him. His shirt was unbuttoned and he looked like a real dumpster guy.
I walked over to him and punched his face with all the force I could muster. That grin of his disappeared and a sense of puzzlement replaced it.
"What the fuck are you doing? You were supposed to get firewood!"
***
"Run! Run! I'll hold them!" I shouted at my brother. He was covered in crimson blood and he didn't look too good. Me either. My left arm was barely working at all. Something had bitten off a large part of my flesh and it was not pretty. At least my trigger finger still worked.
"Fuck you! And leave you here? You must be crazy," Joel replied.
More abominations appeared from all four corners of our stronghold. We were backed up against a wall. Shooting all the bastards was the only reason we were still alive. I had found him, almost dead fighting them off. The situation didn't look too good.
"For once, follow my orders! Go! Go! I'll be fine."
He looked at me with his dark eyes and frowned. I thought he would be an asshole and stay here, but instead he slung his rifle and ran off. He headed towards City Hall just a few hundred meters away. I breathed a sigh of relief and reloaded.
I had no intention to get away. I had to kill a lot of mutants to give my brother enough time to escape. It was a suicide mission and I knew it. I silently wished my brother good luck and turned to face my enemies.
Why? My brother was the brave one. Even during the Day of Coming, he would always go out in the open and search for food while I took care of our parents. Sometimes, he would even cover my ass while I hunted for food. He was the one that found out that the creatures were afraid of light. He was the one that set up the defense system around the safe house. He was the one that should survive this bullshit. I was just a dumb bigger brother. I never said it out loud, but I loved him. The best brother a person could have.
I closed my eyes for the last time and pulled the trigger. Darkness overwhelmed me. There was no light at the end at all. Just black.
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