𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙳𝙴𝙰𝚃𝙷

Chapter 10

"We're living next door to the apocalypse Arianna. Death and despair is on the other side of that big fence. The Ruin IS the real world."Ms Bevis said.

"This town is one of the last to survive. And we're all stuck here till we die off." She finished.

"Damn. Are you always this depressing?" Arianna asked.

"If you want someone to sugarcoat this shit go find a baker." Ms Bevis joked.

"I know you've been through a lot. But.. some of us still think that this isn't it. That there's still life ahead. I just.. I can't accept that the world is over and we're living in some epilogue." Arianna said.

"Hm. You're wiser than I thought kid. Maybe I should've given you the job." Ms Bevis chuckled

"Nah, I don't really give a shit about jobs anymore. Now I want to know more about the lost girl." Arianna said.

"Alright Alright, I'll finish the story."

"A refugee at the farmhouse was infected. Initially we thought there was some airborne virus that was making people act rabidly." Ms Bevis started.

"We decided to lock him inside, and find another safehouse. We didn't understand anything about zombies yet. We would soon enough. A few of us had cellphones, but anyone we called was just as confused as we were. And all the police lines were jammed. One of the refugees was 9 months pregnant. She somehow managed to keep up."

"We'd stop to rest when we heard.. it." Ms Bevis paused.

"...it?" Arianna asked warily.

"It sounded like distant thunder." Ms Bevis continued.

"Stay here." "Where are you going?." "To find out what that noise is."

"Nearby was a hill that overlooked the valley. Once I saw what was there. I knew the world was fucked. It was hundreds..no.. thousands of zombies. I screamed at everyone that we had to go. Some jackass that was with us declared that we should leave the pregnant woman behind, because she'll get us all killed."

"Asshole." Arianna said. Ms Bevis grunted in agreement.

"I kindly refused by telling him to go fuck himself. He grabbed his girlfriend and left. It wasn't long before we heard their screams."

"We crossed a stream, and thankfully the zombies didn't follow us. The stream masked our scent. We ran for MILES. I don't know how. Maybe it was fear, or adrenaline. Or we'd all gone batshit. Eventually we found and abandoned cottage. We barricaded every opening with furniture. There was food, water, a tv, and a laptop."

"Unfortunately all that was on tv was an emergency broadcast message. The internet still worked for a while however. You heard of the internet?" Ms Bevis asked.

"Yeah. They put all that old-world shit into our heads." Arianna said.

"For awhile, I was able to access news feeds from all over the globe. By then, it was everywhere. Europe, Asia, Africa. Towns burning. Militaries losing control of their troops. In DC, jets were laying down napalm trying to reclaim the city. There were zombies burning on the White House lawn."

"I sat there for almost twenty four hours, watching the world as we knew it, end. We lost power soon after, and it never came back on." Ms Bevis finished.

"What happened to the pregnant lady?" Arianna asked.

"That woman. She gave birth to a baby girl that night. We had no clue what we were fucking doing, but somehow we delivered the baby." Ms Bevis said.

"And then the mother. She looked up at me with this horrible expression. And there was this awful sound from her throat. A scratching sound. As if her spirit was clinging to life, trying to stay in her body. She survived long enough to deliver her baby, after all the fighting and traveling. But once the baby was safe.. death dragged her away."

"She'd already been infected, but she hid it. She was in labor for hours, sweating and moaning. So we couldn't tell that she was dying." Ms Bevis wiped a tear.

"Jesus.. what about the baby.. was it a.." Arianna didn't finish, there was no need.

"That can happen. Luckily it wasn't the case here." Ms Bevis answered.

"Did she survive? Is she the Lost Girl?" Arianna asked.

"No, she was too young. It was her sister. The little girl on the run with her mother. Her name was Io. All the blood and screaming, watching her mother die. She screamed until she lost her voice. And then she just stopped. She never said a word after that."

"And then.. the mother came back. She attacked the man closest to her, and ripped a chunk out of his neck. We understood how zombies worked then so we.. we did what he had to." Ms Bevis sighed.

"Im sorry. I can't even imagine." Arianna said sympathetically.

"Oh it only got worse." Ms Bevis chuckled dryly.

"Zombies surrounded the place, attracted by the screams. We were desperate and needed to find help. We started banging on the walls to draw their attention. Once we attracted most of them to the front of the cabin, a young woman ran out the back. She was on the track team and highschool, and she was fast... just not fast enough."

"Two others tried to escape the next day, they both died. Soon it was just me, Io and her sister, and a dentist named Britt. We played rock, paper, scissors. Imagine that, two grown women playing a kids game to decide who would likely die." Ms Bevis chuckled.

"You won?" Arianna asked.

"*snort* No, I lost. Britt got to stay, and I had to leave to get help."

"I found a thick winter coat, then tore up a rug and wrapped strips around my arms. Wrapped four scarves around my face. All left free was my legs. And then I said my goodbyes."

"Britt banged on the front door to distract them, so I could sneak out the back. As I ran, I heard the baby crying. And Britt yelling, but I didn't look back."

"I ran for my life kid. That's what chews me up everyday since." Ms Bevis sighed sadly.

"I don't understand." Arianna said.

"I ran for MY life, not theirs. Don't you get it? I ran to save my ass."

"Hey look you were just trying to-' I don't need your sympathy. I know damn well what I did to Britt, Io. The baby.'"

"What? What happened to them?"

(LONG TIME NO SEE LOLOLOOOLOL)