Seven Un-Dead

Chapter 9

Nat started the chase. She immediately started to sprint off into some random direction, repeatedly yelling Holly's name. The rest ran after her, following Nat's lead and doing just as she did. Soon, there was seven lost teenagers in the forest, yelling out their friends name and running around like maniacs. Luckily, everyone knew to keep together, no matter what they wanted to do.

The moon shone through the branches, casting long and scary shadows everywhere. And the darkness danced as they ran, engulfing them completely. Maybe it was four already, maybe it was still three. Maybe the time stood still in favour of them, giving a chance to go off track and find Holly. Nobody knew, nobody seemed to need it. The chase was tiring and each of them took little breaks,

So the seven trudged through the seemingly endless forest in any direction they thought would be good. Jan was giving up, not wanting to lose anymore time looking for Holly. For him, she was just holding up the group. It seemed stupid for the others to start looking for her. The boy could only feel a gust of wind flicker his hair as an arrow whizzed past his head, hitting the tree right behind him. Out of pure fear, Jan froze in place. Never has he been this close to death. He shakily dared to turn around, seeing that everyone else stopped, and looked at just how much the arrow dug into the tree. The whole head of it wasn't visible and hid under the trunk.

"Duck!" Eugenio yelled. An arrow flew in Nicole's direction. With her slow reflexes, she could only dodge the arrow slightly. Her right arm got the worst of it. Where there should have been a dark blue shirt sleeve, there was ripped skin and blood. The arrow head just about cut through her arm, ripping at the skin around it. Nicole groaned in pain and covered the wounded area with her hand, keeping a tight grip on it in order to prevent excess blood loss.

"Can you keep going?" Maya asked, her cheeks still tear stained and her eyes full of sorrow. Suzzette quickly jogged up to Nicole, looking out for any incoming arrows. She gently lifted Nicole's hand off the wound and examined it, later giving a quick nod of approval that yes, in fact, Nicole would be able to keep going.

And so they did, running around and dodging the arrows that seemed to come from nowhere at all. Just as they were giving up hope, the leaves of the forest canopy rustled. Right above them, up in the higher branches of one of the many oak trees, crouched a girl. A girl with long, dark blonde hair. Her cheeks were painted with green, which everyone guessed was meant to be a form of camouflage. In her right hand she clutched to a crossbow, an empty arrow pack swung round her shoulder.

"Eugenio." Jan whispered to his friend, who was staring up into the tree.

"Shoot." He ordered. Eugenio immediately whipped out his revolver, pointing it at the girl high up in the tree. She froze for a second, then dropped the crossbow onto a branch quite a far distance away. They commanded her to come down, which she gladly did. Then they stood in an awkward semi circle, Eugenio pointing a gun to her head.

"What's your name?" Maya asked, looking intently into the girl's eyes. She held still for a second and didn't say a word, then muttered something under her breath.

"Speak up." Suzzette said in a sharp tone. The girl hung her head down low, not making any eye contact with the seven.

"Sophie." Came an answer in a soft, gentle voice. Now thinking that they may have upset her, Maya chose to step forward, only to be stopped by a very cross Nicole. She was still gripping her wound, giving the girl a look of death and hatred. It was darker than ever in the forest.

"Have you seen a girl about this height?" Nat asked in hope of finding their missing friend. She raised her hand up to her chin, showing just how tall Holly was. Now Nat thought she'd done a bad thing. Suzzette and Jan were both giving her a death glare and, when Jan realised that Nat was looking at him he rolled his eyes.

"With short dark brown hair up to her shoulders. And braces. And glasses." Nat kept on describing her friend, giving Sophie little details. Sophie's head rose up and she met Nat's eyes, then smiled. A feeling of hope came upon everyone.

"Do you know where she is?" Eugenio joined in, asking Sophie. The girl nodded and started to walk. Eugenio and Nat followed immediately. The rest got to it gradually. Again, they all ran. Sophie led them through bushes and through tree tunnels. The autumn air grew cold around them, with no sun to heat them up. Running helped that, warming up their bodies and giving them a chance to work out. The hope of finding Holly was what kept them going. Their friend was currently holding back the mission but that did not matter. Nobody was mad at her, just a little bit annoyed that nobody checked up on her in a long time.

They came to a long field with no trees. Instead flowers, colourful flowers were planted there in neat and set out rows. Suzzette suspected this was Sophie's garden of some sorts. The only tree was the grand oak that stood in the middle of the field. It was surrounded by rose bushes ,some which had got longer and started to climb up the tree. Lianas hung from the highest branches of the oak. It looked like it was fairy lights but the thing that lit up the whole tree were fireflies. They flew around the oak, occasionally landing on a rose petal and lighting up the whole rose flower. It looked truly magical in the middle of the night, where the fireflies really lit up the area. But the best thing was that Holly sat on a small boulder in front of the tree and was picking up flowers, braiding them into a flower crown.

"Holly!" Nat yelled and sprinted off towards the tree. Holly's head turned and she grinned. Only a second after, the grin turned into a shocked face. Holly shook her head, trying to tell Nat to go back. Now it was too late. Sophie, at least what was left of Sophie, spun her head around 360°. The others left, the safe five, looked over from Nat to the girl that led them here. She wasn't the nice and tall girl, with flowing dark blonde hair. She wasn't bearing a crossbow. Now her face was growing green, the white of her eyes turning yellow. Eugenio got his weapons ready, preparing for attack. Sophie's neck snapped backwards at a painful angle, then came back up together, a smile of death upon her lips.

From around the field rose an army of zombies, which looked quite like they appeared from out of nowhere. They slowly approached the field in their classic elderly-man speed. Plenty of time to get ready. Only did the worries come when ground started to break up in the field. In places right next to the flowers, zombies started to rise. Now they knew why the flowers were planted in neat rows. This wasn't no garden, it was simply a graveyard.

"Keep Sophie safe. Get Holly out of there." Suzzette whispered to the others. They couldn't just let the girl die, especially if there was a cure available. Everyone was just waiting for a signal from either Suzzette or Jan, they were both a higher rank than the others.

"Wait, what about Nat?" Maya asked in a worried tone, looking out for her friend.

"She can get out of there on her own." Jan said, putting a hand on Maya's shoulder to reassure her she'd be okay.

A twig cage grew around Holly, appearing from beneath the ground. Nat froze in the middle of her way, which belonged on her 'Worst Decisions of My Life' list. She only felt a tight grip on her ankle before she was pulled down to the ground, her vision going black.

"Or maybe not." Jan admitted.

"Go!" Suzzette yelled out and the five rushed out to help.