I Am Zombie Bait

Chapter 14

Before the outbreak, I was still in high school. I'm was 17, so I only had one year left. Despite the usual cliché, high school wasn't really that bad for me. Sure you had you jocks and your popular girls, but they mostly left me alone. Everyone really left me alone. And I liked it that way. Just like a certain green who before his heart grew three sizes, I wanted to have as little to do with people as possible. Even during Christmas. Bahumbug. Still, there were a few people that just wouldn't leave me alone. My parents, for one, but that was okay. I liked them so it was cool. Eliza Benningfield though, she I did not like.

Eliza was head cheerleader, dated boys on the football team, made fun of other kids and their fashion sense. All the things you expect a popular girl to do in high school. Not many people bugged me in high school, but she did. I could go into some long and elaborate backstory of why we didn't get along, but it wasn't really that long. Or elaborate. Or entertaining even. We were partners in chemistry, she didn't want to leave me alone, I wanted to be left alone. That's it.

It's not all drama filled teen angst. Still didn't stop her from smiling at me every time she passed me in the halls. It wouldn't have been a big deal in the end, but because of the attention she gave me, others noticed. And they weren't so friendly. If Eliza had never bothered with me, then they would have left me alone too. Sometimes, that's enough to make you hate someone. When I found out she was in the same group as I was, you know, post-outbreak, I did everything I could to avoid her. Yeah, maybe I could have been the better person, buried the hatchet, but I didn't want to. She at least stopped smiling at me whenever she caught my eye. Honestly, she was one of the reasons I was happy to be rid of the group.

And now here she was, at my gate. Opening my gate actually. I should probably do something about that. I ran to the front door. I stopped, thinking better of it and set up the trip wire in the entrance hall, just in case. I opened the door, and did that thing people do when they put the arrow on the bow string. What's that called? Nocking! I nocked an arrow and pulled the string tight. Side note, I can fully draw the bow now. Woo for exercise. I took aim and yelled out at them, "stop!"

It was hard to tell if they actually stopped. It was getting dark out and their lanterns weren't exactly great. Maybe that's how they found me, because of my lights. In any case, I could see that there was about 4 or 5 of them. I might have seen a glint or two, which could have been knives or the barrels of guns. I wasn't immediately shot, so I figured I was okay for the moment.

"Please, we just need a place to stay for the night." That was Eliza talking. It irritated me that I still remembered what her voice sounded like when I could barely remember my mom or dad's. "We don't want to cause any trouble."

"You're not exactly welcome here, Eliza," I barked back. I heard a few murmurs after that.

"Do I... know you?" Eliza called back. I could be mad about her not recognizing me, but I had been through a lot since I last saw her. Also the lighting wasn't good over here. I didn't exactly turn on the porch light. I opened my mouth to respond to her but then I froze.

Something was off. Not with the people, but something else. Somewhere in the back of my mind a voice was screaming that is was almost night, and the streets around here belonged to something else at night. I relaxed my arms but kept the arrow nocked. I ran towards the gate shouting, "get in!"

"What?" Eliza asked, shocked.

"I said get in!" I yelled. I had reached them by then. Most of them were still outside of the gate, Eliza herself standing half in and half out. I grabbed her arm and pulled her in before gesturing to the others to follow. They slowly began to come in, looking unsure about me. But this wasn't the time for that. I could already see two dots in the distance. And they were getting closer. What really worried me was that I didn't see the others. "Hurry up!"