Hide For Me

Three

It was as if nature heard my mumbles because that night I heard a loud crash. A raised my head to see that the planks blocking the front door hand been torn down and there was a figure standing in the entrance. All I could see was the silhouette but I knew it was a Walker by its unnatural posture a dry panting. The best way to describe how it sounded was the sound a person makes on their deathbed when it hurts to breath and their throat is infected with some unknown illness. I had to rely on my sense, besides sight, since it was so dark. Grabbing my crossbow I shot towards the sounds of the Walker shuffling forwards. I heard it collapse and hit the ground with a loud thud but I could tell I had hit it only in the leg or something since I could still hear it's uneven breaths and slow movements. I reloaded my crossbow and aimed it towards the ground just in front of my feet and waited until I could see the dark shadow under the spot I was aiming at. I fired and this time it stopped moving. "That's it, I'll have to go tomorrow," I told myself. I made myself swear to it.

Today was hotter than most, and it smelt worse than others. I looked onto the street and found the source of the smell. A small dog was lying on the road, I didn't go check if it was dead since the burning stench of decayed flesh pretty much confirmed that it had deceased. I decided to follow the road into the city. I didn't have many memories in the city, the only times I ever went into the city was during school excursions or if we needed to go to the airport for some reason. By car, it would take about half an hour to get into the city but on foot, it would take a couple of hours. I swung my crossbow onto my back and started walking, "farewell childhood memories, hello new life," I whispered. Somehow it felt harder to leave then it did to look at the decayed buildings.

I walked past my old school, the sporting fields, the train station. I decided to follow the train tracks instead since they lead straight into the centre of the city whilst the roads stretched all over the surrounding area. Birds had returned back to the land and plants frolicked in the lifeless areas of the metropolis. The virus that turned people into flesh-craving zombies, or as we call them "walkers", only affects mammals. Everything else was almost untouched by it. Whilst walking along the tracks it truly made me understand how lonely I was in that crippled building I called home. It was finally my time to let go.