~
I ran, and ran and ran. It couldn't be happening, not now, not ever. It just wasn't possible. Both of my parents were infected. They sacrificed themselves for me. There was nothing left i could do. But there was one more person I cared about, the only thing left for me in this chaotic, bleak world. Green.
Clutching my cell phone and leaning against a tree, gasping, I dialed his number. At first he didn't answer and I panicked. I repeatedly called him until at last he picked up. He was already rushing back from his college when he heard the news about the virus. He told me his family was all right and we didn't need to worry about them, they got away for now. So now his priority was me.
Right as he was pulling up, some more infected people appeared from the woods at the edge of the road as if from nowhere. They moaned, flesh rotting, hungry for some flesh of my own.
This wasn't any old epidemic virus.
These were zombies.
---
I squeezed my head tight, hunched over myself. Breathing heavily, I tried not to cry... again. The memory of those horrible events haunted me constantly. I still wasn't used to them.
Green looked at me with a look of half-concern, half-exasperation. "Eliza. You're still thinking about it."
I looked up at my childhood friend, smushing my face in my hands in the process. "I can't not," I sighed.
Green quietly laughed. "Double negative, FTW." I attempted a weak smile in response. "C'mere." He motioned to me. I came over to where he was and sat on the ground next to him. He hug-pulled me into his lap like he always used to. I instantly felt a bit better. Green was just like an older brother to me. I'm an only child, but he offered the perfect sibling. He comforted me, used to play video games with me, was just always there for me. He was nineteen at the time, and I was sixteen.
I stared at the wimpy campfire, whose heat probably couldn't rival the warmth of Green's hugs. We were living in the woods at that current point in time. Anywhere away from civilization was a bit safer. Maybe we could survive here. Maybe not.
~
The TV flashed a message on every channel, in plain, high-contrast black-and-white.
"WARNING!: The infection has spread! Please evacuate..."
My dad was home at the time but my mom was still at work. We called her, told her to stay in her car for protection and we'd come pick her up so that we'd all escape together. We hurried into the car with our basic supplies and most precious items and sped off to where my mom worked, at a nursing home some miles away.
When we got there, the place was in chaos. People were already infected, bloody, passed out or just starting to stir. Just starting to wake up as zombie-like creatures running on mind-control infection. My dad forced me to stay in the car. He went to investigate the bodies and find my mom, hoping she was still alive.
It was too late. She was bitten and unconscious, pale and greenish, ready to turn. I burst out of the car after him, horrified, grief stricken. But the infected were starting to wake up. They were coming for the kill, to create more of them. They were about to attack both of us, but my dad shoved me away as far as he could. He screamed for me to run. He protected me from certain doom, but in return gave it to himself. I screamed for him to run, but it was far too late for him, too.
There was absolutely nothing else I could do. So I ran, and ran, and ran..."
---
Green squeezed me tighter. He knew what was coming. I squeezed my eyes shut even tighter. The horrific images were so vivid, so real. They overwhelmed me like a tidal wave at any given moment, the traumatized brain of a sensitive one experiencing things they never should have. Here I was, more than a year after everything started, and flashbacks still haunted me with their murderous, sadistic images.
It didn't take long for me to realize i was screaming. Thankfully it wasn't as lound as usual. Poor Green, he has to deal with me. My eyes flew open and I took deep breaths. I managed to gasp out some words. "Dammit, i'm so freaking unstable..."
"I don't blame you," Green kindly replied, "You've been through a lot."
"So have you. Your parents are dead too. You don't even know where your real sister is." I paused. "I don't see you randomly screaming for no reason."
