Wasting Away

    Leaves crunch under the little boots of three young kids. They had been running for hours. The youngest of the group, a small girl no older than seven wearing yellow tattered dinosaur pajamas, leans against a small tree. Her lungs ached so much she had to keep herself from crying. "Lizzy, do you need a break?" The oldest of the group crouched next to her. She nodded, as tears streaked down her precious little face. "Pa-Parker? How long have we been running?" She asks in between gulping as much air down as she could. Parker was 14, and he, his sister and one of their friends where trapped in a zombie apocalypse. Alice walked over to Parker. She had green eyes and a face covered with freckles. Her long red hair cascading down to her mid back. Her eyes where usually filled with a wild stubbornness, but after all hell broke loose, her eyes grew more dull by the day. Parker and her had been friends for a while and since he turned eleven he could feel his feelings for her shift slightly. Those feeling kept getting stronger until the point of him having to resist kissing her. Lizzy was Parker's little sister. She was six and knew so little about the world there was still so much for her to explore, to see... But now she couldn't. Before this horror Parker wanted to be a zookeeper, Alice wanted to be a teacher and Lizzy wanted to be a dancer. It was so unfair! Why did they have to trade their futures, their dreams for a state of perpetual fear, hunger, cold, and loneliness?

    The outbreak began just a few hours before. Parker remembers the last thing his Dad said to him... Will ever say to him, "Son," he said as he placed his hand on his shoulder. "Promise me one thing before I die, take care of yourself and Lizzy." Parker's eyes teared up. NO! He couldn't cry. Not in front of the others, it was his job to keep them safe and seeing him crying would only discourage them. He needed to stay strong. As they ran into the woods they saw Alice. After making sure she wasn't infected, they left into the woods. They began to set up camp, or whatever the closest thing they could have to one was. Parker only had time to grab four things, a knife, a compass, some water, and a photo. Parker stared into the picture. It was him, his sister, and his parents all standing in front of their fireplace. Parker felt like crying again but fought off the water in his eyes. He pulled out a magnifying glass, Alice gave to him, and grabbed some wood and pine needles. He focused his beam on the pile and it started smoking.

   Before long the group had a small flame dancing to keep them warm. Lizzy's stomach audibly growled. She looked down at it with a sad look painting her cheeks. "Parker, I'm hungry!" She complained. Alice unzipped her bag. Fortunately, she had more time to pack and grabbed more important items than some stupid pictures that will never bring his family back. Alice rifled through her things before pulling out a candy bar and tossing it to Lizzy. She grabbed the food off the ground and hungrily shoved it in her mouth. Parker looked at their fire and sighed. "So, do we have any idea on our destination?" Alice zipped her bag up. "No, unfortunately. I didn't really have time to plan anything." Parker glanced at Alice, who was cleaning her knife. "Dang." She said under her breath.

   Parker looked at Lizzy who was quickly fading. It was a long day, Alice looked tired too. "Go to bed Alice, I can watch the camp." Parker told her. "Are you sure?" She looked up at him. "Yes, I'm sure, look you can sleep over there so no zombies can get you." Parker pointed at a hollow log that had fallen over. At this point Lizzy had fallen asleep on Parker's arm. After thinking for a minute Alice stood up and walked over to Parker before picking Lizzy up and cradling her on her neck. "If you get too tired, just wake me and I can watch for the rest of the night." She said before heading over to her log and sliding in with Lizzy in her grasp...