Escape From Jacksonville

2

The next morning, the boys woke up to a wonderful smell in the air. It smelled like eggs, bacon, and toast. The seven boys got up and walked into the kitchen. When they did, they saw Rosina, Jane, and Rebecca were standing there at the counter, fixing breakfast. Annie and Anna were sitting at the table, waiting for their breakfast to be ready. Annie looked at the seven boys and she smiled to herself. Dylan, Peter, and the other five boys made their way to the table. They sat down, waiting for their breakfast. Suddenly, all of them heard scratching and whimpering coming from outside.
"Did you hear that?" Dylan asked Eric. Eric nodded his head in response. The two of them got up from the table. Both of them went back into the living-room. Dylan went to the door while Eric went and picked up his bow and arrows. He joined Dylan at the door and he looked at him. Dylan nodded his head, as to signal that he was ready. He pulled the door open only to find a German Shepard puppy standing outside on the porch. The dog got frightened at the sight of Eric's bow.
The dog took a few steps back then started whimpering again. Dylan decided to take a closer look at the dog so he stepped out onto the porch. He reached his hand out and took a few steps closer to the dog. The dog backed away from Dylan. "It's ok," he told the puppy, his hand still stretched out. The dog started to sniff his hand then it pulled its head back. Finally, the puppy took a few steps closer to him then it sniffed his pants. The dog looked up at Dylan with its sad eyes. He patted the dog on the head.
The dog rubbed its head against the side of Dylan's pants. He stood up and walked back into the house. The dog followed him into the house. Eric closed the front-door behind the dog then he put his bow and arrows away. Dylan, Eric, and the dog all walked into the kitchen. The dog went over to Jane, sat down, and let out a bark.
She looked down at the dog then she smiled. The puppy went back over to Dylan, who was sitting in his chair. He looked down at the dog and checked its body for injuries. The dog was bleeding from several spots on his body, the blood making the fur sticky. He lifted his head, looked over at Rosina, and said, "Rosina, we have a dog that needs your help." Rosina stopped what she was doing and looked at the dog. "I'll do it after we eat. Breakfast is ready." she said. The twelve teenagers ate their breakfast while talking about whether they should stay where they are or go somewhere else.
Rosina found some plastic bowls and a bag of dog food in the lower cabinets. She looked through the kitchen drawers for something to open the bag of dog food. Finally, her fingers wrapped around a pair of scissors. With the blades of the scissors open, she sliced across the top of the bag. She poured some dog food into one of the bowls, and the dog was chopping down his food. After all twelve of them and the dog were finished eating, they went into the living-room. Rosina searched through the hallway closet for a first aid kit.
Finally, she found one, so she walked back into the living-room. She sat down on the carpet and placed the first-aid kit on the floor next to her. Rosina called the dog over to her. The dog walked over to her. She told the dog to sit then lay down. The puppy did as he was told. She opened the first-aid kit, then she pulled out some cream and bandages. "Get me a towel to stop the bleeding." Rosina told Jane. She did as she was told. Rosina got to work on the spots that were bleeding. She barely touched one of the spots when the dog barked at her.
Rosina told the dog that everything was okay. The dog finally calmed down and she was able to continue treating the spots that were bleeding. Jane finally came back with the towel that Rosina needed to stop the bleeding. While she treated the spots, the dog started to whimper but the whimpering stopped as soon as it started. Finally, she was done treating all the spots. The dog tried to get up onto its feet. At first, the puppy couldn't seem to find its footing but after awhile, the puppy found his balance.
The group decided to go somewhere but they couldn't just leave the poor little puppy to die. They decided to take the dog with them, but first they had to pick out a name for the puppy. The twelve of them argued about what they should name the puppy. The guys wanted to name the dog Shadow but the girls wanted to name it Bella. But the girls were outnumbered by the guys so the boys got to name the dog Shadow. "Ok, get your stuff. We're leaving in twenty minutes." John said.
Rosina found a mail-delivery bag to put little Shadow in. Now the twelve teeangers were running down the street with another huge horde of zombies chasing after them. As they ran, Shadow poked his head out the side of the bag and he let out a bark. Rosina looked down at the bag that she was carrying on her shoulder. "Shadow, get back down." she said to the dog. Shadow did as he was told. Suddenly, there was another horde of zombies coming towards them in the front. "Run faster!" Dylan yelled, looking behind his shoulder.
All twelve of them picked up the pace. A couple of zombies were right behind them by now. They turned a corner, just as a zombie yanked Anna to the ground. Eric looked back and yelled, "Anna!" but she was already surrounded by zombies. The only thing that he could hear was her final screams as she slowly died. Tears were streaming down Eric's face, and he didn't even try to wipe the tears off. He knew that the best thing to do was not to look back. Behind them, the undead were busy devouring Anna, her stomach ripped open, blood all over their faces.
At least it'll buy us some more time, Eric told himself. They ran farther and farther down the street, away from the zombies. Finally, the eleven teenagers stopped to catch their breath. "Where's Anna?"" Henry asked, looking around, finally realizing that Anna was gone. "The zombies got her," Eric said, finally wiping the tears off with his shirt sleeve. Henry looked back the way they came, and he could still see the zombies surrounding Anna in the distance. "What are we going to do now?" Peter asked, going over to the two of them. "We are going to move on." Henry said, turning away from the horrible sight of Anna being devoured. They walked to the others, who were waiting for them.
Shadow had his head poked out of the bag again. The dog let out a bark then Rosina decided to let Shadow out of the bag. Once the dog was on the ground, Shadow started to sniff around. Suddenly, the dog started to whimper, and Rosina walked over to him. "What's wrong?" she asked, bending down to pet the dog, then she saw it. When she did, she screamed so loud, that the others were alerted that something was wrong. The others rushed over, and all of them let out a fearful scream at what they saw.