Breaking Apart

Chapter 3

The wind blew softly, enough to chill Mitch to the bone. I sigh, "Will you stop chattering your teeth." Mitch looked up, still shaking. "When are we g-getting there?" Mitch stumbled forward, trying to catch up. "We're about to enter the city, now we have to be quiet. Who knows what to expect..." I hear Mitch slow his footsteps, I turn to see him standing there. "Mitch, what are you..?" A snowflake hits me, chilling my face. I grab his hand, forcing him to run. "What are you doing?" He shouts as the snow falls faster, "Trying to warm us up by running, and if we don't get shelter soon..." I look back, continuing to sprint. "We'll die of hypothermia." Mitch nods, he runs at the same speed as me. I turn into the first apartment complex i see, the door screeches behind us. We stand for a minute, panting. I look around, I spot a flight of stairs and walk over to it. I climb the stairs slowly, knife in hand. I place my hand on the doorknob, trying to ignore that it's freezing to the touch. I twist and push with all my body weight, it opens quickly. Mitch rushes inside, grabbing a blanket and puts it over his shoulders. I roll my eyes and shut the door behind me, leaving Mitch in the living room. I run through the house, no zombies or human life. I grab the sheets off of the bed and lay them in the living room. I bring down pillows and hand them to Mitch. I drag a table in front of the door, I sigh and walk over to the window. I look down onto the city, I grin. "Hungry?" I look over to Mitch, he's fast asleep. I sigh, I place my bag down and grip my knife. I look over to the window, the sun sets behind the buildings. I close my eyes, hoping sleep comes fast and dreams stay away.

I hear a scream, I look around. "Lucy! Hurry!" I frantically run around, "Aliza, where are you?!?" I hear a voice near my ear, "Dead." I scream, I feel the floor beneath me vanish. I look up, erasers fly at me. I land in water, I raise my hand. Blood drops from my fingers to my wrist, I gasp. I look around, the puddle grows bigger and bigger. I look over to the source, a dead body. Walk over to the corpse, it's eyes fly open and bite me. I scream at the top of my lungs, "No!"

I awake to a huge gasp for air, I start to pant. Mitch lays next to me, still fast asleep. My breathing slows, the sun is about to rise. I look through the house for jackets, I only find one. I lay it next to Mitch, I take an inhale. I need to get more supplies, I'm gonna have to leave him here. I move the table and open the door, I start up the flight of steps. I smile as I see another room, I enter it and quickly search the dresser. I almost cry when I find a black jacket. I take off my leather jacket and place on the new one, placing my leather jacket over that I go back down to where Mitch is staying. I open the door, and Mitch looks up at me. "Where did you go?" I shrug and watch as he puts on his jacket, he looks at me faintly smiling. "Here we need to move on." He opens the door, I nod and exit first. We walk down the stairs and exit the building. I look around as we walk through the streets, the sun rising quickly. I hear a crashing noise, Mitch grabs my hand. I gasp slightly, I rip my hand out of his and walk towards the noise. I girl walks around the corner, rifle in hand. I smirk and walk closer, "Don't come any closer!" She steps from the darkness, revealing her red hair. Mitch runs past me, he stands the middle of us. "Wait Ellie?" Mitch smiles as she lowers the rifle, I can see the tears form in her eyes. She squints at me, "Who is this with you?" Mitch chuckles. "Loser Lucy. She is like a badass now." I turn away, "Loser Lucy, a name I haven't been called in a very long time. I remember you, teasing me every hour of the school day." Grip my knifes, Mitch's eyes widen. "Anyways we need help, Jade got bit." I walk towards her, "Then do her a favor and have her bite a bullet, only remedy." Ellie scoffs, Mitch whispers something in Ellie's ear. She smiles and leads the way to her friend. We turn into a dead end ally, the only defense a fence of dumpsters. We walk in and Jade and another girl sit in the corner. "Jade. How's she?" The girl shakes her head, dabbing Jade's head with a towel. "Are you sure you want to be out here? And not in a building, it's winter if you didn't already notice." Ellie scoffs, "We are allowing you into our camp, be grateful!" I clench my teeth. "Then I'm leaving, just so you know it's only going to get worse. Wait till the pain sets in." I turn toward the trash cans, Mitch grabs my arm. "Lucy..." I tear my arm from his grip, he grabs my wrist. I glare at him, he lets go hesitantly. I enter the street, Mitch runs after me. "What do you..." Mitch cuts me off, he kisses me. He pulls away, I slap him and continue walking down the road. "Wow that's not how I imagined my first kiss would end." I roll my eyes, "I don't like you anymore, the girl that liked you, Loser Lucy. Is long gone, now I suggest you either return to your buddies or you come with me." Mitch smirks and walks up next to me, he holds my hand. I sigh, letting our fingers intertwine. He leads me back to the camp, I let go of his hand and walk over to Jade. She is panting fast, I reach in my bag and pull out a water bottle. I place it up to her lips, she gulps slowly. I pull the bottle away and she coughs loudly, I turn to Ellie and Mitch. "I need you two guarding the alleyway, I'll come relieve you in a bit." Mitch nods, Ellie just stands there. Mitch grabs her hand and pulls her to the enterance. "Why did you send them away?" The girl in the corner stands up. "I remember you, sadly in a way I refuse to remember." I remember her, Jade's sister Hazel. I nod, I hear her stomach grumble. I reach into my bag and pull out an orange. It's brown in some spots but fully edible, she smiles and takes a huge bite. I turn back to Jade, her breathing slowed. I look through my bag, finding bandages i look at Jade's arms for a bite. I find it on her leg, it bleeds through the towel set there. I take off the towel and replace it with fresh bandages. I sigh standing up, Hazel sniffles. "Is she going to..." I nod, Hazel gasps and starts to cry softly. I place my hand on her shoulder, I walk to the entrance. Mitch looks at me, he whispers something to Ellie. She nods and walks to where Jade and Hazel are sitting. "She gonna be fine." I shake my head, "They could've saved her, if I'm thinking this right they could've chopped off of the infected end of her leg." Mitch's eyes widen, he sighs and looks at the buildings. "We need some more supplies, they're starving." Mitch looks at me, "I care about them, we should go now, it's almost noon and-" I raise my hand, "I'm leaving, I'm going north. If I can go north far enough it might prove to be too cold for zombies. They could freeze and I would be safe." Mitch stepped closer to me, he took my hand in his. "I want to go with you. I think we should take them with us." I sigh, "They'll slow me down, we need to hurry." Mitch inched closer, "What about me?" I look away, I turn back and look into his eyes. "No, but I'm better at surviving alone." Mitch chuckled, "Really?" I nod, I step away and look back at Mitch and the other bullies. I sigh, I walk back and Mitch kisses me. I don't pull away, Mitch grabs my hand. We break away and walk over to Ellie. "I have an idea, we need to leave. So you know this might not work..." I walk over to Jade, knife in hand. "If she was bitten recently this might save her." I chop down, the crack of the bone startles Hazel. "No!" Ellie rushes forward but Mitch holds her back, I quickly wrap her leg. I reach into my bag and feed Jade medicine. "Mitch find something that could be used as crutches, take Ellie with you." Mitch nods and they leave. "Hazel you okay?" She nods, i take another bandage and wrap her leg even more. The sun peaks through the clouds, "We need a fire, can you find anything that could be used for firewood?" Hazel shakes her head, I look around. Tearing planks off of platforms, I stack them into a pile. "Here I have this." Hazel hands me a lighter, I smile. I light the fire, it takes a couple of tries but I stay persistent. "Help!" My head raises up, I run to the entrance of the camp. I pull out Aliza's axe from my bag and sprint to help Ellie and Mitch. Zombies surround them, I sprint forward. I kick their knees, they fall and I hit them I the head. Zombies fall as I kill them, some turn to notice me. I quickly grab my knifes and chuck them at the zombie's head. They fall to the ground, after what feels like many minutes all of the zombies lay lifeless on the street. "Well you were right about Loser Lucy being a badass." I stand panting, Mitch holds old crutches in his hands. I nod and we walk to camp, Hazel sits by the fire. "Jade?" Jade's eyes flip open, she groans. "I feel better." Ellie laughs, I take some beans out of my bag and cook them by the fire. I cuddle up next to Mitch, "Here, this will help keep her strong." I hand the beans to Hazel, she nods smiling. I look up at the sky, it's dark with cloud cover. "In the morning we head north, I'll stand guard first." I go to stand up, Mitch stops me. "You need to sleep, me and Hazel can guard." Hazel nods and stands up, Mitch kisses my cheek and walks over to the entrance with Hazel. "Thank you." Jade looks at me, I smile as Jade drifts off to sleep. I look at the sky one last time, before I lay down on the cold floor, and fall asleep as well.