Nobody Survives in the End

Two • Seeking Shelter

• THIRD PERSON POINT OF VIEW

The outside had looked like Andrew expected it to, abandoned and damaged. He carefully scanned the area, his breath caught in his throat at the sight of a few bodies laying on the grass nearby. He looked back at his wife, scared and worried.

The outside was quiet, with not another living person, or undead in sight. The only movement was the garbage that flew around in the breeze, creating small trash tornadoes before dying out and scattering.

Andrew began to lead his family towards the parking lot, hoping and praying they would make it in one piece. To his right, Laura helped take lead, scanning their surroundings. She was beginning to wonder if anything was wrong, maybe they were being paranoid.

"Hey, dad? I don't think anything is wrong," she stated, looking over at him. Andrew glanced at his daughter and shook his head, "I would rather be safe than sorry. I can't afford to gamble with your lives," his tone was serious and cold, making sure she knew to take this situation seriously.

The walk to the parking lot was a short distance but it felt like it took forever because of the suspense. The air hung thick around the family, the silence further brewed their fear. "Ah, shit!" Andrew cursed, stopping in his tracks.

"Where's our car?" Emma questioned, her voice curious and panicked. "Daddy, where's the car?" She repeated, sounding like she was going to cry. Tanner caught on to Emma's panicked tone and began to cry.

Andrew turned to the children as Anna tried to talk to them. "I don't know," he admitted, defeatedly. "Somebody must have stolen it, at least it's in good use," his eyes scanned the parking lot. "Maybe we can take another one?" He questioned, mainly to his wife.

Emma spoke up once more, "You can't steal somebody's car! That's illegal, dad!" She chastised, "We're gonna be stuck out here," her tone heightened. Hearing Emma, Tanner began sobbing out of fear.

Laura shot Emma a glare, "You're scaring him, shut up!" Suddenly the air wasn't silent anymore, it was full of sound. "What is that?" Anna asked her husband, looking all around them, her hands flattening her son's hair in a comforting attempt.

Andrew put his finger over his mask, telling them to be quiet. Tanner's sob began to die down as the unknown sound grew louder. Then he saw it, coming around the corner of their apartment building. A group of lazily walking sick, each bumping into each other and groaning loudly.

Their hearts dropped and fear seized their muscles at the sight. Tanner screamed at the top of his young lungs and he rushed to hide behind his mother. "A-andrew~?" Anna asked, her voice shaking. "We need to go, everybody into the parking lot," Andrew ordered, scooping his son up into his arms.

Laura placed her hand on Emma's shoulder, trying to pull her from her daze as she stood still like a statue watching in horror. "Emma, we need to go," Laura stated, her tone urgent and rushed.

The sound of shattering glass broke Emma from her trance, forcing her to look in the direction of the sound. Andrew had shattered the window on a minivan and was reaching inside to unlock the door. Laura shoved her sister towards the van and did her best to keep her eyes away from the group.

"Get in, now!" Andrew demanded as he unlocked all the doors manually. "Andrew, they're getting closer," Anna warned, frozen in place watching them. He placed his hands on her shoulders, "Honey, I need you to help the kids into the car." His eyes locked onto hers, trying to comfort her the best he could at the moment.