The Dead Walk Among Us

Chapter 4: Death

Iris has her eyes closed. She's close to death. Jack is crying and holding onto her. I try pulling him away.

"Jack we need to go. She's going to turn." I yell.

"No. I'm not leaving her," he says.

I finally manage to pull him away. Iris or what used to be her gets up. She stumbles away growling. My best friend is one of them now. I know I should kill her so she doesn't hurt anyone else, but I just can't bring myself to do it.

We had been friends since we were eight. I miss her. I need to be strong for Jack. Jack must be wrecked. I am, too. I didn't want this to happen. She didn't deserve this. No one does. I know we shouldn't have left the bunker!

If we didn't, she'd still be alive. I wish she said something sooner. Maybe we could have done something. I know it might be a long shot, but maybe someone could have helped her. Maybe given her more time.

Now I need to protect Jack. I can't let him get hurt. I'm not going to break that promise. I will try my hardest for her. Jack and I start walking. Where do we go now? What do we do? I feel so lost without Iris. She was our leader for weeks. She always knew what to do. I hope I can be a good leader like she was. I see a car up ahead. I go over to it. The keys are in still in the ignition. I try to open the driver's side door. Of course, it's locked.

I pick up a rock and throw it at one of the back windows. I unlock the door. I get into the front. I grab the keys. I start the car up. It's got half a tank of gas. It won't get us that far, but it'll help.

"Let's take this," I say. Jack gets in. I start driving. After a half hour of aimless driving, I see a camp. A woman walks up to the car. I roll down the window.

"Hey, do you guys need a place to stay?" the woman asks. Her eyes are normal.

"Yes, can we stay here? We'll only be here a little bit," I say.

"Yeah, pull the car in," she says.

She opens the gate and we drive in.

"Are you sure about this?" Jack asks.

"No, but if things go wrong, I will protect us," I say.
I get out of the car. The woman comes back over.

"Where are you two from?" asks.                         
"We were at the safe house, but we had to leave," I say.   

"I heard about that. So, are you two siblings? You look similar," she says.

"No, his sister...died," I say.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know," she says.

She gives us two bowls of beef stew.

"We just ate," I say. She puts the soup back.

"Hey, I was hungry," Jack whispers.

"Who knows what's in that stew," I say. The woman comes back.

"So, are you two staying with us?" she asks.

"Yes, for now at least," I say. "Once we are ready, we are going to leave though."

She shows us a tent and tells us that we will be sleeping there. I only plan to stay until tonight, then we leave. We go to sleep a few minutes later. I have trouble falling asleep for a bit, but then I finally do sleep.

I wake up at six am. I get up and explore the camp a bit. I need to know my surroundings before anything else. Jack is still sleeping. I go back to the tent. Jack is up now. He's holding a picture. I notice it's a picture of him, Iris and I. I remember that day. I found a camera in the bunker. We took a few pictures together but the film ran out after that.

"Hey, I was thinking we should leave soon," I say.

"Alright, let's go then," he says.

We get back in the car and drive on the road. I didn't like that camp. I just wanted to stay for a bit. I didn't feel all that safe either.

"Do we have any food?" I ask.

"No," Jack says.

"We are going to need food and water," I say.

After ten minutes, I pull into a house driveway. We get out. I grab my pistol. We walk inside. The house is small. Jack looks over the island in the middle of the kitchen. He jumps back just as a person rises from behind the island and grabs his arm.

"Hey! Let go of him!" I yell pointing my gun at him.

"This isn't a person! It's a zombie!" Jack says.

I need to get the zombie away from Jack. The zombie pulls Jack towards him. I shoot the zombie in the arm, but it has no effect. I shoot him again and nothing. I run at the zombie and push him over. The zombie growls and tries to bite me. I hold the zombie down.

"Jade! There's more of them!" Jack yells.

"Get to the car!" I yell.