walking with the dead

001 // oh s****

hey guys! so this is my new story, I really don't have much to say other than please don't say anything about my lack of capitalization. I know I don't capitalize like anything, it's just how I write okay.   

 "mom, look we've done this a hundred times. I'll be fine, I always am." I hugged my nervous mother, trying to breathe through her tight grip.

    "elaine I know, and I know you'll be perfectly okay, but I just get so worried. I can't lose you, you're my baby girl." my mom finally released me, patting my hair, before turning me around to start braiding it, not into the katniss braids, no, the two dutch braids that amish girls wear. it might be old fashioned, but it gets the job done. I mean, in the zombie apocalypse, fashions not exactly a top priority. I sat patiently as her trembling fingers braided my dirty hair that hadn't seen a shower in weeks. Since our church's backup generator had run out of power, and was overrun with the dead heads, showering was a thing of the past. I was supposed to go out on a supply run with my brother and father. we were staying in some random house in a gated community, which was relatively free of the deads except for the once-residents-turned-zombies. in the beginning, I was, to be frank, scared shitless. zombies had been my worst nightmare for years, and here they were, in the flesh. it took a while, really it took up until the church we had stayed at for months to get overrun, for me to man up and adapt to the new world. 

    "elaine, you ready?" my dad called from the foyer of the house, getting impatient. he was always impatient, even before the world ended. he was very against me and ross going on these runs at first, but after he had almost gotten bit several times and only brought back enough food for one night, he realized he needed our help. I didn't go on the first few runs, I was too scared, but when a stray walker had managed to break through our window, and I had to kill it, I realized I had to help out, and pull my weight if I was gonna make it. 

    "yeah dad, coming!" I called back, hugging mom quickly one last time. I grabbed my pink airsoft gun, which I know is completely ridiculous, but they don't kick as hard as a real one, and they can still take out a walker just as well as any other gun. I petted our cat pickle, which I had shoved into a pillowcase and dragged out of our old house when the world went to shit, and joined my brother and father.

    "okay, so we need all the canned goods we can find, theres a shopping center a few blocks up we haven't checked yet, and I'm sure someones already gotten too it, but there might be a few things left. elaine, you're in charge of any clothes or feminine things you and mother need. everyone clear?" my dad asked, acting like he was talking to a military squadron instead of his own two kids. I rolled my eyes and nodded, while ross saluted him, 

    "sir yes sir!" he said in a serious voice, causing me to chuckle. the drive to the shopping center was short, only like 20 minutes, but it felt like 20 hours. seeing all of the dead things along the way was still unsettling, I knew they weren't people anymore, but they used to be, and if they could become that, I could too. 

    when we got to the shopping center, it seemed vacant of any zombies. ross and dad banged on the doors just to make sure, and one or two showed up but the place seemed empty otherwise. we went in, and I was sent in search of clothes, and "feminine things". the only good thing about this apocalypse was now I could finally afford all the clothes in Macy's. after filling up a few shopping bags full of clothes for my mom and I, a store across the mall caught my attention. It was a Sephora, the best place on earth. makeup could totally qualify as a feminine things, right? I walked over, drool literally hanging out of my mouth. the store seemed to be perfectly untouched, and completely empty of any biters. I walked all through the store, putting pretty much everything in my bags. I was in a state of euphoria, which is probably why I didn't notice the shuffling from behind me until it was too late. I was awakened from my trance by a loud snarl, followed by a searing pain in my right arm. A walker had its teeth around my forearm. I quickly killed it with my gun, but the damage had been done. 

    I was bit, with the teeth marks to prove it. I turned back to the makeup that had been such a distraction before. I grabbed the damn eyebrow pencil, and then grabbed all the extra ones I could find before stuffing them into my overflowing shopping bags. As the realization that I was going to die sunk in, I slid down to the floor, unable to hold back tears. I wasn't ready to die, and while I could hardly think of a better place to die than Sephora, surrounded by makeup, I couldn't leave my family.

    "hey elaine, are you ready to go, dad and I have been waiting for you, and I-" ross cut his sentence short as he caught sight of my arm. "elaine, please don't tell me thats what I think it is." ross's voice was quiet and hollow, he sounded like he was five years old again and just found out his grandmother was dead.

    "um, it's not a walker bite?" I managed to choke out through my tears. ross picked me up off the floor, and carried me outside.

    "finally! took you guys long enough, elaine, why is ross carrying you?" my dad asked, quite confused. I showed him my arm, and his face went blank. "what is that?" he asked, slowly and quietly.

    "its a bite dad." I said, sniffing back tears. his pulled on his hair, and beat the side of the truck.

    "God! no, no, no. this can't be happening." he screamed, banging on the truck. I flinched, and saw walkers begin to emerge from the treeline and into the parking lot. 

    "dad, I know you're really upset, and I am too, but um, a lot of those things are coming, and we need to get back to mom." I pointed out the emerging biters, and he hopped into the truck, ross putting me in the back and climbing into the front seat himself. the drive back to our makeshift house was silent, except for the sniffles I was still trying to hold back, and dad's silent tears. I was starting to feel hot, and I knew it was the fever. however the disease worked, it was in my bloodstream now. I had maybe a few more hours, at most. 

    I still couldn't believe I was going to die. I'm fifteen years old, too young to even think about death, but here it was, staring me in the face.