There she was out in the middle of the forest, walking towards a noise that she hadn't heard before. It was evening, the sun had just started to set in the horizon. The only light left of the day filtering through the trees and creating shadows on the ground. Her father had once told her stories about a sound, even though she didn't know what it sounded like, she was certain that it had to be that. It sounded like a church bell, very far away. Walking slowly without making too much racket, she headed towards it.
The bell suddenly stopped and now it was eerily quiet. She looked around and froze as a figure approached her direction. Slowly she began to back away. When the figure stopped moving, she walked faster towards the cabin. Her heart was beating so fast that she thought it was going to leap out. The figure was starting to catch up to her, but she knew that she couldn't run. If she began to run she would be making too much noise that would attract others. It was late October and dead leaves covered the forest ground. She could see the cabin in a distance, all she had to do was cross the small river and then finally run all the way to safety. She turned back to see if the figure was still after her, and it was.
She began to panic.
She had to start running.
There was no other way.
She began to make her way through the river. The water was freezing, she could no longer feel her legs. She then felt a splash, letting her know that she was no longer alone, the figure had entered the water. This was it, she was going to die. Frantically, she began to run to the other side, but the creature lunged at her, bringing her down into the water with it.
She couldn't breathe. The creature clawed at her. She didn't know what to do, she was in shock and tried to keep her head above the water. As the creature tried to bite her, she could see the skin peeling away from its bones. The bloodshot eyes and decaying stench made her cringe. This creature had once been a man, a person who had a family. Sandra felt sorry for him, but she knew that he meant danger. This could be the end of her life.
The creature kept trying to bite her neck but she was holding him back with her arms. The creature then began to push her down into the water. She slipped and most of her body submerged under water. She was too weak.
Just when she thought of giving up, Bill, a middle-aged man showed up and struck the creatures head with an axe. The blood curling sound of the skull cracking made Sandra gag. She jumped back to prevent the blood from getting on her. But it was too late, blood had stained her face and mouth. The man retrieved the axe from the creature's skull with a swift move, as if he had been doing this all his life.
"Are you stupid? What were you thinking?" he screamed.
Sandra could barely speak, she was in shock. She was having a hard time catching her breath from the almost fatal encounter.
"I heard something, and...and I thought—"
"Forget it! Go inside. Now!"
Back at the cabin, Sandra jogged ahead of Bill and straight into her room, slamming the door shut. She sat down at her old desk in the corner and crossed her arms. She could have defended herself from that creature, Bill just didn't give her enough time to do so. She tried to contain her anger by picking at the old desk. She looks down at her tattered old leather boots and then up at the ceiling.
This cabin was strange. It didn't feel like a house should, it was cold and dirty. This had been her shelter for the past two weeks after their last place was taken over by creatures, or 'roamers', as her father called them. The cabin was a family getaway, or at least it once was. It was a large cabin, maybe it belonged to a rich family since there was a garage. There was two rooms, one where Bill slept and the other where she slept, a small kitchen and living room. She remembers watching the way that the roamers walked, in every direction. It was gruesome, some had missing limbs and others were missing chunks of their faces revealing bone. She is brought out of thought when she hears footsteps in the hallway. Someone stops right outside her door, it's Bill. "I'm gonna' go huntin'. Stay put." He says.
~
Once Bill leaves, Sandra gets up and begins pacing around the room. "He treats me like a little girl. I'll be turning 16 in two months. I can take care of myself. I always have done so since my mother died. But no, he's all macho and shit. I seriously don't understand him. Why did he come back for me? I just don't—"
She stops when she sees something move outside through the window. She stares at the bushes for a few minutes and then a rabbit comes out from behind. "That's it! I'll show him that I can hunt for myself," she says. She steps away from the window and goes outside determined to hunt that rabbit. She runs outside and heads towards the bushes. She slowly creeps up to the bush and is so close to catching the rabbit but then she steps on some twigs. The rabbit is startled and runs away. She goes after him for a few minutes but she loses track of him. She stops and puts her hands at her hips.
"That fucking little shit," she says out of breath while looking at the rabbit run away.
She decides to head back towards the cabin, looking at her surroundings. There's a swing rocking from the wind at the front porch. It's starting to get cold again, the sun isn't as bright as other days. It might rain soon. There hasn't been any roamers around town for a while. Bill has done a good job of keeping them away.
