Blight of the Rose

Heat crawled upon my skin as I raced through the burning streets. People screamed and the dead was coming to life. I had to get us out of here!  Looking left and right were the same things. Flesh being stripped from innocent bystanders and flashes of the defenders bullets shimmering in the air as the undead became the living. I quickly ran back into the house to spot Elijah shoving things in a backpack. “Grab whatever and let’s get the fuck outta here!” I was out of mind, this all happened too fast and nobody could explain it.

 

I ran to back of the house, hoping none of those ‘monsters’ had found us yet. Running straight into the living room I nearly tripped over the books, papers, and various things tossed onto our floor from our previous hysteria. My mind was spinning and I felt a bit dizzy but Elijah’s yell from the front of the house knocked me into reality.

 

Then as I was brought back to my senses I spotted my bow in the back of the room. Leaping over papers and strewn objects over the floor I approached the great glass case, not hesitating to smash the window of it and reach in for my bow. A few trickles of blood drizzled down my arm as I reached for the smooth wooden bow.

 

Immersed in the beauty of it, I nearly forgotten we were under attack by flesh eating monsters. I turned to race back to Elijah when a crash sounded near the front of the house. Moans and growls ripped through the air, freezing me in my place. It’s not like we had forgotten they weren’t here, but the reality of it was still mind blowing. “Maisie! What the hell!? We have to get out of here!” Elijah screamed at me from across the room. I hadn’t noticed him before, caught up in this strange ‘dream’.

 

My scarlet stained hand clutched by bow and I quickly shook my head, trying to clear it as I rushed past Elijah. I could hear him following behind as I frantically searched for the back way out. During this rush of a terrifying hunt it’s like I had forgotten where it was located. That’s when Elijah shoved ahead of me, taking a right into our parent’s bedroom. “He could have just shouted to me…” I thought with an irritated growl and followed after him. I didn’t like being pushed out of my place, even if it was a situation like this.

 

Elijah crossed the room to the rug that covered the trap door to our secret tunnel for emergency escape. I slammed the door shut behind me, leaning my back against it. “Are you sure there’s not going to be any in the tunnel?” I called from the room, hearing the moanings and growl coming nearer. Elijah looked over his shoulder his overloaded backpack shifting, “They won’t be down there if no one else was.” I swallowed nervously, hoping it wasn’t showing on my face. I didn’t like to look weak in front of anyone, especially Elijah.

 

“Hurry up! You’re going to get us eaten alive if you’re not any faster!” I barked, hearing the shuffles and snarls of the close by zombies. They would figure out in seconds we were in here. “Shut up! It’s not easy picking a lock!” He shouted back, the lock suddenly snapping off as he shoved his ‘tools’ back into his pocket. He lifted the door up, dust billowing out like smoke. I could feel my heart race when the door behind me was bashed into, and I didn’t have to think twice as to why.

 

He hopped down into it and I shut my eyes for a moment, praying we would get out of this alive. I could hear the blood roaring in my ears and feel my heart smashing against my chest. I gripped my bow until my knuckles were white and with that I pushed off the door and sprinted to our escape route. Just as I released the very defense between us and the monsters, it was broken down in a fury of snarls and growls. I didn’t dare look over my shoulder as I jumped down, holding my bow out in front of me to reduce the risk of it getting caught.