2st May, 2013.
“Jack, get them to calm down then meet me on the front, bring your long-pole!” I shouted at him, I ran out on to the front of the house and grabbed a long knife and my long-pole from next to the door, then ran out to see what the problem was.
It was clear to me the second I burst through the door.
A small man, probably about thirty-five was stood in the middle of Joes road, a zombie lay on its back in front of him. Did it just move?
“You, here now!” I demanded. He took a step closer to me as Jack came out of the house long-pole in one hand, machete in another, when did he get a machete, I thought.
“Is it dead?” I shouted, he took too long to reply, “I said is it dead?” I said a bit quieter, realising that if there was one, there is likely to be more.
“Y-yes, it is, I shot it, I doubt it could survive that,” He replied, quietly, I noticed tears in his eyes, as though it was someone he loved, a wife maybe.
“Who was it?” I asked in a comforting tone, trying not to scare the guy. He sobbed before speaking again.
“My girlfriend, she got scratched two days ago, before they made the announcement.” He said, a look of shock on his face.
“I’m sorry to hear that, and I know this is a sad time, but are you sure you killed her?” Jack said in response.
“Yes, like I sa-” His response was cut short by a piercing scream of pain. The zombie that this survivor had wounded now had its jaws clamped firmly around his calf. Me and Jack reacted instantly, me slamming my long-pole viciously into its skull and Jack throwing his machete at the same area, my long-pole made the zombie release its jaw on the survivor, and Jacks well thrown machete cut through its skull and killed the zombie, for good this time.
“Quick, I know it’s not morally right but we’ve got to kill this guy,” Jack said to me.
“I know, I know,” I replied, trying to think, “Hey, come on, what’s your name?”
“D-Dylan,” He said in between moans of pain.
“Right, Dylan, I’m sorry, but we’ve gotta kill you, we’re doing it for the best, you don’t want to become one of them right?” I said, speaking quickly.
“No, I don’t, do it now, quickly.”
“Jack, quick, go get your bow, do you have any arrows?”
“Yeah, one.” He ran off to get the weapon. I stayed with Dylan. I removed the machete Jack had thrown at the zombie and stabbed it again into its skull, to make sure it was dead.
Jack came running out with the bow and an arrow already notched, but not drawn.
“OK,” he said, “Let’s do it.” He drew the bow behind Dylan’s head, he looked away.
“I can’t do it, Mitchell, you do it.” He said, looking to me for support. I took the bow off him and drew it, again, behind Dylan’s head, aiming right at the spiral in which his hair originated.
I looked away. I was about to tell Jack that I couldn’t do it. My hand slipped. My grip loosened. All I felt was the string hit my wrist. I opened my eyes and looked at where this man was lying. In his place lay a dead man. The rest of the group gathered in the doorway. I locked eyes with Alex and he understood what I was asking of him. He crowded everyone inside the house. Him and Joe came outside again after they had finished with the group.
“What are we gonna do about it?” Joe said, he checked over the zombie, probably wondering how Jack got such a good shot with that machete.
“Is the fire still going?” I asked, Joe nodded, “Right, we’ll burn both the bodies,”
“Yeah, just make sure none of the kids or overly emotional girls see the body, or emotional guys for that matter, we all know John will scream and run like a girl if he sees it” said a voice behind us, Flo had decided to join us on the road. We all laughed at the joke.
“I think it was actually Joe who jumped into a bush when the gun went off!” I said, adding to the joke.
“That’s not the first time he’s jumped in to his dads bush!” Alex added. We all joined in a round of laughter, even Joe, I think it wasn’t the jokes that made us laugh, it was more the fact that we were back in normal times for a while, making jokes, laughing, generally having a good time. It was nice to be back to those times for even the short time we were, it was relaxing, took our mind off the situation, but was that really a good thing?
Joe went in first, making sure that no one was in the path of the bodies and all of the doors on the way to the back door, and by that extension, the fire, were closed. We dragged both bodies through the kitchen into the garden at the back of the house.
Luckily for us, as we stepped out of the door, the fire was still burning, emitting light and heat on extraordinary levels, so we could still see what we were doing. As we were about to throw the bodies on the fire I remembered suddenly to retrieve the arrow from Dylan’s skull.
We stood in silence as the bodies of our first survivor and infected went up in flames. We changed our position to the inside of the kitchen when the fire started to die down.
“We need to tell them about this, they’ll be safer if we do.” I argued in a hushed tone, they knew who I was referencing.
“And they’ll be more prepared for an attack if we should encounter more, they’ll be more aware of the threat.” Flo added to my point, explaining it further.
“No, we shouldn’t tell them. We should execute the plan earlier than planned.” Jack suggested. It was a good idea, executing the plan would not only make us more safe, but also save us from unnecessary worry and panic, that telling them would bring, that would hinder our chances of survival.
“Yes, that’s what we’ll do,” I said “Jack has a good point; we’ll forward the next stage of the plan to tomorrow, first light. I’ll decide who’s going where. Go get some sleep, and get the others to join you.”
Jack left the room immediately. I heard his voice through the thin door separating us, me and Flo, from him, and the rest of the group. Flo left me alone, exiting via the door to my left, as the noise died down in the adjacent room. I stayed a second or two, and then followed her through, glad to see some people hadn’t quite followed Jack’s instructions. I went quietly and swiftly over to mine and John’s dads, two of those ignoring the advice of sleep.
“Will you two mind taking first watch?” I asked, somewhat rhetorically. It was greeted by nods of approval and two whispered ‘yes’s’. “Good, each take a long-pole and a knife, preferably long bladed, watch the front door and the back door, shout if you hear or see anything, if you think you have time wake me then Jack. Wake up another adult at about 3 a.m. give them the same instructions. Ask them to wake me at first light, no one else but me, then get some sleep, got it?” Nods told me they did. A small smile of pride spread across my father’s face. They both left immediately to carry out my orders.
