"Let's talk about this...please," I say.
I see Sarah walking down the stairs. She notices the zombie with the gun. She slowly steps backwards until she's out of sight.
"Turn around," the zombie says.
I turn to face him. He's got a large scar over his left eye. I see Sarah behind him holding a aluminum baseball bat. How did she get down here that quick without being seen?
She swings the bat so hard that the zombie's ear falls off. With the zombie stunned momentarily, I grab the gun from him. I shoot the zombie in the head. He falls down. He's dead.
Sam picks up the knife I dropped. She stabs the one that attacked her. I never quite believed Elizabeth's story about a zombie shooting her until now.
"Are you okay?" I ask Sam.
"I'm fine," she says.
"Did either of you find anything good?" Sarah asks.
"I didn't find much," I reply.
"Me neither," Sam says.
At least this wasn't a total bust. We found a bit of food, two weapons, and the note so it wasn't all bad. We walk outside.
We walk for another four hours not finding anything. Sam struggles to keep up with the both of us.
"Can you please walk a little faster? It's like having a snail follow me," I say.
"Ever since the last time you got bit, it seems like you're faster. We used to walk at the same speed?" Sam says.
I never noticed a difference, except my response time to be a little quicker.
"I noticed the same thing about myself since the last time I was bitten," she says.
I'm so tired. I hope we find a place to camp soon. We only have about an hour left of daylight. I check the map. It doesn't say much in the way of buildings.
"Not much further until the next house. I know this area well," Sarah says.
After twenty more minutes, we reach the house. Sarah mentioned. Sarah pulls out a key.
"Is this your house?" I ask.
"It's been my house since this all started. I was just about to give the landlord his money when he attacked and bit me. I've kept it in pretty good condition since," she says.
She opens the door. There is a couch, table, a small kitchen area, and a bathroom. It's so small, but at least it's a place to stay for the night. Sarah flicks on the lights.
"You have electricity?" I ask.
"I have a generator in the backyard. It's low on gas so the lights might turn off in the middle of the night. I'm going to make...something for dinner. Make yourselves at home, I guess," Sarah says.
Sam lays on the couch. It begins to rain outside. It's freezing in here. I put my backpack on the coffee table. I place my gun next to it. I don't feel like putting it in my bag. I want it in reach at all times.
"Your door is sturdy, right?" I ask.
"Not really. You can push that book shelf in front of it," Sarah says.
With a little help from Sam, the bookshelf is pushed in front of the door. Sarah announces that dinner will be ready soon.
I roll out my sleeping bag, even though I'm probably not going to get much sleep tonight. Sarah places three plates at the table. She made chicken with peas and corn. It doesn't look too bad. We eat dinner then lay in bed.
It's been a long day, but every day is long when you're fighting for your life. The lights turn off signaling the generator used all it's gas.
I wake up to the sound of someone banging on the front door. Before I can even, react the bookshelf falls over. The others have already sprung out of bed. I jump over the coffee table grabbing my gun as I do. I climb over the bookshelf not a moment too soon. As the door starts to open, I close it with my back.
"A little help here?" I say.
Sam and Sarah stand by me helping me hold the door. I scan the room for an alternate exit. I can see a window in the kitchen. Now that I have an exit all I need is a plan.
"Sam, I need you to find something to hold the door closed long enough for us to escape," I say.
She moves quickly. As soon as she let's go of the door, it becomes five times harder for us to keep it shut.
"What about the couch?" Sam suggests.
"Go," Sarah says.
"What?" I ask.
"Get out of here and go! You have people that care about you. They need you. I have nobody. I'll hold the door long enough for you two to get away," Sarah says.
"You are one of us now. We don't leave our own behind," I say. "Sam, get that window open and climb through. I have a plan." She opens the window.
"On three, you will go out that window," I say to Sarah.
She starts to object, but stops. I start the counting. At three, she does what I told her. I make a run for the window. I climb out. We run into the woods. The zombies chase us.
"That's what you call a plan?" Sam says.
"Just go!" I yell.
Branches scrape me as I run through them. Although my legs are tired, I have no intentions of stopping. Sam trips. Sarah and I turn back. I help Sam up.
"I can't walk," Sam says.
"What do you mean?" I say.
"I think I twisted my ankle," she says. Sarah pulls out a gun.
"I'll protect you two just do whatever you need to," she says.
I sling Sam's bag over my shoulder. I pick her up.
"Let's go!" I say.
We continue running. Running becomes so much harder while holding Sam. Carrying her does help with her issue of being slow. Maybe I should carry her all the time. Some of the zombies that look well fed stop and lose interest in their fast moving prey. The others are still very keen on chasing us down.
"I don't think we're going to outrun them," I say. We both slow down to a stop. We pull out our guns.
"There isn't many left, let's just put an end to this," Sarah says. We shoot the remaining four.
"What do we do about her?" Sarah asks looking in Sam's direction.
"I really don't know. Her ankle is going to take a little while to heal. Until then, she can barely walk by herself let alone run."
"There is a small town not far from here. We can let Sam rest in the hotel there while we scout the town for supplies," she suggests.
"That would be great," I say.
Sarah offers to carry Sam the rest of the way. I let her. In less than then twenty minutes we reach the town. Sarah wasn't lying when she said it was a small town. There is the hotel, gas station, grocery store, restaurant, and ten houses.
We go straight to the hotel. I open the door. I grab one of the keyrings. We get Sam set up in the room.
"If you run into trouble, get up to the roof," I say.
First we enter the grocery store. There is also a small pharmacy inside. All the shelves are empty. We head over to the gas station. I open the door. This place is untouched. I put my bag down. I check the expiration dates on the boxes and cans before tossing them in the backpack.
"You should know better than to steal," a man says as he steps out of the back room.
I pull out my gun. He puts his hands up.
"Calm down. I'm not here to hurt anyone. Just please leave some food for me," he says.
Two young kids walk out of the back room. They hide behind the man. I lower my gun. It's good to know there are still nice people out here. We finish gathering supplies. We enter the hotel. I go to into Sam's room.
YOU ARE READING
The Dead Walk Among Us
Science FictionIt's been ten years since the fall of humanity. I was only ten years old when the zombies took over. The military told us to flee underground, explaining that it was safer. The zombies are smart, too smart. They can learn to hide themselves. Some of...
