Haven | Dreamnotfound

A little bit of hope

Chapter 18

Drista liked her sword. Technically it was her Dad's, and technically she stole it but she likes it all the same. What Drista doesn't like, is sleeping in trees. It's boring, and sleeping is difficult anyways.

That's how she found herself wondering around on the ground while her Mom still slept, looking for food or berries or something that was remotely edible. They were running low on food.

There was a gas station nearby, and she knew it had to have been raided at this point but what if there was something left? What if it hadn't been checked at all? It could be a gold mine, could keep her and her Mom alive for longer, until they found Clay.

Her Mom had made the decision not to go yesterday, but she was currently asleep, and Drista was good with her sword so she decided to go herself. She knew it would be fine, she hadn't heard any zombies the entire night.

She was quiet as she walked to the station, eyes peeled and sword up. The sun was just starting to rise, so there was a bit of light but it was still quite dark. There was no sound anywhere though, and as she looked through the windows, not a single sign of movement.

She was still cautious as she opened the door, sweeping her sword and eyes around, ears open and breathing quiet. She wasn't the first person in here, clearly. The place was a mess, but maybe there was still something useful. She placed her feet carefully, not wanting to make any unnecessary noise as she checked each aisle. The longer she went with no movement, the more confident she felt she was alone. No humans, no zombies.

She eventually let out a breath, and lowered the sword slightly, now choosing to look around for anything useful. She wanted to get out of here and back to Mom before she woke up.

By some miracle, there were some bags of chips and even some bottled water hiding in the mess. She put them in her bag and continued searching, feeling quite proud of herself and the successful raid.

Until there was a loud crash just outside, and her heart stopped. She lifted her sword again and ran to the window, looking around for whatever it was. She couldn't see anything, and there was no other noise.

Suddenly, there was a smash to her right, and she screamed as the door fell forward, and a zombie entered the room. She backed up, nearly tripping. It started running at her, and she swung the sword with a yell, digging it into the creatures side. It screeched and stumbled, and she knocked it over. Once it was down, she sliced through its neck with a shout, and quickly ran backwards from the corpse.

She looked up in time to see two more zombies enter, and Drista began to regret her decision to come alone. Look, she is technically a child, but she's not a kid anymore. Her Mom still protects her like one, but Drista can hold her own, ok? She can. She will. But she was a little scared. Maybe more than a little. And her only exit was blocked by both zombies. They chased her, and she chose to run. She can't kill them both at the same time, not when they are so close together. She wouldn't get the chance.

She weaved in and out of aisles, trying to at least get them separated, or make a clear space to run to the exit. It worked, for the most part. The zombies had gone down different aisles, and she managed to get one on its own. She jumped on top of the counter to get a better angle to cut off its neck when it finally got close enough.

But just as she decapitated it, it had grabbed her ankle and tugged, and she was swept off her feet, her head landing against the counter before falling onto the floor with a thud. She groaned, and could feel blood trickling down the back of her head.

The room was spinning, but she looked up just in time to see the second zombie standing over her. She couldn't grab her sword in time, she only just opened her mouth to scream. But before the zombie could attack her, an arrow was suddenly lodged through its head, and the zombie froze. It was followed by a human hand coming around its neck and slicing through with a large dagger.