BETTER SAFE THAN ZOMBIE

OZTS 14| All's Fair In Love And War

We burst out of the hotel and into the darkened streets, our hearts pumping in rhythm with our legs. The sky was dark, the stars long before erased by city fumes, and the unforgiving new moon not giving us any light.

I felt tears well up in my eyes. It was like we were being intentionally left to grasp our way into the dark, with a starving monster nipping right at our heels.

"Search for some place where we can all hide," panted Mr. Blake. We were still running, Hazel on the lead and Ethan a few steps behind her. Although Hazel didn't falter in her steps, I knew that her running was directionless. We have absolutely no clue on where to go.

"Impossible," said Mr. Williams. "I doubt any of us could see anything in this darkness. And we can't just blindly enter into some building. There are zombies everywhere in this city."

We didn't need the reminder. We knew that the one chasing us right now wasn't the only monster that wanted to kill us. There are monsters everywhere--

Of that we were all aware.

"Split up," said Hazel. "That's basically our only choice. One group baits the zombie dog, the other escapes. Just like what Kathryn suggested last time."

"Ethan goes with us," said Mrs. Blake, her voice ragged. But despite it, we could hear the finality in her tone. "Our family stays together."

"Ethan, Mr. Blake, and Mrs. Blake," said Mr. Williams. "Anyone else joining?"

There was the sound of an ear-splitting growl, and suddenly a large body crashed into Mr. Williams, and they tumbled onto the ground.

"Dad!" screamed Hazel.

I aimed my gun, but the body of Mr. Williams and Max were so entangled together that I couldn't shoot.

There were sounds of tearing flesh, and then Max yowled, and I realized that Mr. Williams had stabbed him in the stomach and twisted the knife to make the wound bigger.

I fired; a bullet sank into his flank, and Max was retreating, his moans human-like and eerie. Then Hazel was there, her expression twisted, and then her axe arched down, biting deep into Max.

Max howled and screamed--there was no other word for it. His body fell into the ground, and all of us could see how deep Hazel's axe had struck him.

"Dad? Are you okay?" Hazel helped Mr. Williams sit up, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that he wasn't wounded.

It seemed like he was as tough as his daughter.

We all stared at Max, who was twisting on the ground. Thick, dark blood dribbled out of his wounds, and it covered the cement like red paint. I fired at him again--my hands were shaking, but the bullet still found him.

Hazel stood up and went to Max. She drew back one of her feet, and kicked him hard enough to cause bruising. Max uttered a pained yowl, and in any other circumstance, it would have horrified me to see someone being kicked when he was already down.

But Max wasn't even human anymore.

She yanked her axe out of Max, the latter jerking with the pain. His disjointed arms scrabbled at the ground, dragging his body a few feet away from Hazel.

"Run if you can, you little shithead," said Hazel. She took a step forward, heaved her axe high in the air--

"Hazel, look out!" I shouted.

Max tackled her, and the axe flew high in the air. I stopped breathing until I saw it land a few feet away from Hazel, but even before I could breathe a sigh of relief that it didn't amputate anyone, there was a sound of something hard smashing into something soft, and Max howled as Hazel kicked him away.