Hell On Earth

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Alex's POV:

It was a last minute descision of mine to fake them out and go for Amanda. I was on the verge of actually going with Megan and Jacob, but then I realized that I had to go save my sister. She could be all alone out there in the woods, bleeding to death, or...I couldn't even bear to think about it. I just had to go save her. I jumped in my Lancer and started it up. Rotters almost immediately surrounded the car, banging on the windows. I stomped on the gas pedal, pushing it as hard as I could against the floor. I could feel the wheels fighting for traction on the grass, and as soon as they found it, I went shooting off.

Too fast. I jerked the steering wheel away from a tree only to spin out and stop in the middle of the road. I took a breath, narrowed my eyes at the forest in front of me, and looked desperately for a path without trees. I found one a few hundred yards down the road and took off towards it. I aimed the car perfectly at the small hiking path, and made it. Branches scraped the entire car, and there were moments where I couldn't see anything at all, blocked by leaves from low hanging trees. I continued on, doing as fast as I was comfortable with without wrapping my car around a tree, which was around 40 mph. I slowed a little once I was sure I was safe from the huge horde of Rotters at the beginning of the forest. I started driving slowly and honking the horn repeatedly, trying to gain notice of Amanda, if she was even alive in here. She could already be dead and I could just be going on a suicide mission for nothing.

But there was something inside of me. Something that was telling me that my little sister was still alive and fighting. And I had to find her as soon as possible. I drove on for hours aimlessly, just following the path. As I neared my breaking point, I heard a small whooshing noise. I stopped the car and listened. I couldn't hear it very well, so I rolled down the window, hoping to hear it better. Was that...a waterfall? I drove onward and came out to a clearing in the woods, which revealed a beautiful waterfall, the biggest one I had ever seen. It was breathtaking. Even with all the chaos in this completely screwed up world, this just made up for almost everything. It looked to be about four stories high, and the water was making a white cloud at the bottom, it was like something out of a movie.

I stepped out of my car and stumbled towards the clearing to look closely at the amazing wonder of nature before me. What I didn't hear was the rustle of branches and bushed behind me before I heard "Why are you here?" I jumped and whipped around, startled. A little girl stood before me, no older than six. "Uh...well...you see...I'm looking for my sister." I stuttered. What was this little girl doing here? "Oh. I have an older sister. She ran away when the scary things came, and I haven't seen her either. I miss her." She stared up at me with the bluest eyes I had ever seen, wide open. "Um...Well, I'm sure you'll find her soon." I tried to reassure her. "Mommy started crying when she left. After she left, one of the scary things got in our house and started biting my mommy. I hit it with one of her cooking pans, but it just kept biting her. It was like it couldn't feel pain." She said all this while still staring up at me, without blinking.

I finally came out of the shock of this little girl just showing up here and started thinking. Was this a trap? Was there someone trying to distract me with this girl while they shot me and took my things, or maybe just kill me for the hell of it? "Hey, um..." I had no idea what her name was. "Madilyn." She filled in.

"Madilyn. Is there anyone else here?" She shook her head, her brown hair flying all over her face. "Okay." I hoped she was right. "Sorry to interrupt, that was rude  of me." I said, realizing I had interrupted her story about her mother. "That's okay." She said, smiling. "Well, where are you staying?" I asked, wondering how she had stayed alive this long. "It's a secret." She whispered. "It's okay, I won't tell anyone." I promised. ""Pinky swear?" She asked, completely serious. "Of course." I answered, and held out my pinky. She held out hers and we pinky swore. "Okay, follow me." She ran off giggling. 

I stood there for a second before realizing I should follow her. "Coming!" I shouted after her. I caught up to her easily and after a few minutes of running, we came to what looked like a house. It was fenced it, but it looked like section had fallen in, and the sliding glass doors that ran out to a porch were smashed in. I guessed that was where all that had...happened. "Up here!" Madilyn said, shaking my arm. I looked up and saw a tree house directly above me. "Come on up!" She shouted, and climbed quickly up a ladder attached to the tree. I looked around and then followed her up. Inside the tree house were a whole box of Rice Krispy Treats, which appeared to be almost empty. As I looked around, I saw many snack boxes laying around, some half full, some empty. Wow. This little girl knew how to take care of herself.

"Wow. I like it." I said to her. She smiled and handed me a bag of gummy bears. "Here. It's the last pack I have." She said. "Oh, thank you, but that's okay, I  have some food back at my..." I trailed off as she looked at me with sad eyes. "Well...I guess I could eat them here." I said, and her smile returned. "You can even have the red ones, even though those are my favorite." She said, as if it were some honor. "Oh, well thank you." I said gratefully.

I ate the pack of gummy bears, and it felt good to have them again. I hadn't had them in a long time. Not just because of the whole zombie apocalypse, but because my parents really didn't like to give us kids a lot of candy. "So what do you drink?" I asked, trying to find some source of water. She ran over to a corner of the house and dug out a jug of something. "What's inside?" I asked. "Apple juice." She answered. "It doesn't taste very good though." She said, screwing up her nose. "Are you sure it's actually apple..." Wait. Stupid question. "How long has it been up here?" I asked instead. "Since my daddy and I had our last picnic." She said, playing with a strand of her hair. Oh, well that makes sense. It probably went bad. And that's probably why all this food was up here too.

"I think I might have seen your sister!" She burst out suddenly, her eyes lit up. "Really?" I said, excited. "She was up in a tree. Her ankle looked really weird too." Madilyn said. Minds well go check to see if it was Amanda anyway. "Anything else?" I asked. "No." She shook her head again, hair flying. "Well where was she?" I asked, eager to get a move on. "Follow me!" She shouted out again, and scrabled down the ladder. This time I was right behind her, impatient to find my sister already. "It's getting dark out though. Mommy always told me not to go out at dark." Madilyn said when we reacheed the bottom of the ladder. "Well, I think this time it's okay, because I'm with you and I'll take care of you." I said, looking into her eyes. "You will?" She asked, her eyes wide, as blue as a mmidsummer's sky. "Of course." I answered. She suddenly hugged me very tightly and snuggled into me. I hugged her back. She was like my very little sister. I would take care of her too. "Thank you." She whispered. "This way!" She suddenly yelled, and ran out into the forest. I sighed and stood for a second. Another responsibility. But if I didn't care of her, who would? She might be killed by a Rotter, or some person with a sick mind, or starve. I had to take in the risks versus the reward. And the reward right now was saving a little girl who looked no older than six, who probably lost her entire family, and had no one else to look over her. The choice was easy. And so I ran off into the forest after the little girl that saved my sister's life.

A/N

OMG YOU GUYS I HIT 1K READS THANK YOU! THAT'S AMAZING! Which is why I made this chapter a little longer as a treat :) This is amazing that I am actually getting reads on this story, and I'm so grateful. I really do appreciate it, so I held up my promise and delivered this chapter an hour before the weekend was over :P (11pm on a Sunday XD) Keep an eye out for a new story, coming soon when I actually get the time to put it up here and get a cover and all that. Thanks again for 1k reads, that's amazing and I'd never thought I'd get here. Thanks to you readers from all over the world, [I look at my demographics ;)] and let's get 1k more!