I Am Zombie Bait

Chapter 34

Pound. Pound. Pound. That's all I heard as I lay on my back in that small back alley. And it feels just like that alley I was in so long ago when this apocalypse really started for me. Did that make this the end? Maybe that's what this was. My fate coming back around to find me again, and finally take me like it tried to so many times now. But no, nothing was coming to get me, no injuries had fatally wounded me, no zombies had bitten me. And instead of unrighteous fury, I found myself wallowing in my sorrow. I wanted nothing more than to scream and scream and scream until I was ripped to pieces. The edges of my world weren't shaking, they instead closed in on me, threatening to swallow me in a way that was far more terrifying than the shaking had ever been.

And still, Bubba went on. Pound, pound, pounding away at the debris looking for a hint of flesh he could chew on. Based on the groans and grunts he made, he wasn't finding anything. Despite the fact that there were at least four bodies in the rubble.

The panthers... the Pride... they were gone. They were all gone. Tears stung my eyes at that thought. I'd lost my family, all over again.

I couldn't stay still and mourn, as much as I wanted to curl up into a pathetic ball of tears and alcoholism, I still had work to do. The Pride wouldn't see it, but I was still gonna bring that giant zombie down, and I didn't care what it took for me to do it. Closing my eyes and taking a breath, I pushed back against the boarders of my world, fought against the threat of collapse. I couldn't lose myself, not now. I flipped over and pushed myself to my feet. A quick search revealed that my radio had disappeared sometime during the buildings collapse. I suppressed a growl as I began the run to the open end of the alley. I didn't even make it out to the street before the tears began streaming from my eyes again and my edges pressed in once more. I choked back a sob and forced myself to focus and push back. I had work to do.

I jogged my way back toward the orphanage and the death trap. I needed to regroup, get some weapons, find a new way to lure Bubba to the death trap and then figure out how I'd kill him with it. As I neared the orphanage I noticed that the front gate was swung wide open, which I didn't remember doing. If that hadn't been enough of a tell. There was also the large group of people running around the front yard going through my supplies. I watched for a minute as they went through piles, tossed things to the side, grabbed whatever they wanted and stuffed it wherever they could. You're basic looting and stealing. I quickly realized this was the people who were with Sussex. Shocker. I saw a girl come out of the front door with my backpack on. My original backpack from when I traveled with my parents. Sure, watching these people tear apart everything I had worked to build ever since I'd gotten there was not exactly a gratifying experience, but seeing someone trying to steal my backpack. That's what makes a girl snap.

"Hey!" My voice was so loud and harsh that every single person there froze, their heads snapping to me. I locked eyes with the girl who had my backpack. I took measured steps towards her. Even though she was a good head taller than me, she seemed to shrink as I grew closer to her. Wordlessly, I held out my hand and she pulled the pack off, handing it to me. I did a quick check inside. There was my original tent, a jacket, some food cans, and the pencil case. I checked inside and breathed a sigh of relief. I quickly closed it up and pulled it onto my back. "What do you people think you're doing in my house?"

"Well well well," a smooth and infuriating voice spoke. The sound of it alone made the edges of my world shake violently, all color quickly beginning to drain away around me. I suppose it shouldn't have really shocked me that his voice was a trigger for me. "You're still alive. You even came back. How nice."

I suppressed a growl as I slowly turned to it's owner, now standing in my doorway. "Sussex. I don't remember inviting your sleazy butt into my home. What are you doing?"