Dead End [#Wattys2016]

CHAPTER 7

Have you ever had that feeling where you felt so down, so hopeless, that the thought of ending your life wasn't just a pass by, but it was constantly tugging at your brain? Tears would gather in my eyes, glossing them over like plastic, but before any had the chance to escape, I would always roughly wipe them away with the palms of my hands. It was like I felt judging eyes on me, even when I was alone, and I had to show everyone just how strong I was, even though I knew no one was watching me. I couldn't break down, no matter how much the need tugged at my heart.

It had been a month. A month since I left the farmhouse with new weapons and renewed hope. Another month with no human contact.

My mood was already at a low point, but then something happened, and it sank like it was attached to an anchor.

I had been training, teaching myself how to use the blades in an efficient way, moving my body with them as if we were one. I felt a childish joy rise within me as the feeling of being a samurai ignited. I even let a smile slip on to my face. Little did I know how temporary my positive emotions were.

I was sitting by a lake, relaxing. I was watching how the undisturbed surface of the water would glimmer with tiny diamonds that captured the sun. I would observe with a feeling of content as the top of a fish's head would poke out of the water, loving how its imperfections just seemed to make it more perfect. I kept yearning for someone else to be there with me and share the peaceful environment with them, but I was being ungrateful because I was alive and should be happy with that. But I wasn't.

The lifeless growl I heard from the dense forest behind me alerted me to an oncoming zombie. With an annoyed growl of my own, I rose to my feet while unsheathing the katana that I always had strapped to my back. My eyes snapped from tree to tree until finally I saw it stumble out of its hiding.

While waiting for it to come closer to me, not really wanting to move from my spot, I automatically started to observe its familiar appearance.

The short, black hair that sprouted from its scalp stuck to the edges of its bony face by what I could only assume was blood. Half of the face looked to be chewed off harshly, showing the grotesque insides of the head, making it almost impossible to identify. A light, brown eye stared off in to the distance, lifeless. If the once loving eyes weren't enough to tell me who it was, the gold bracelet on its left wrist that had Elaine engraved into it certainly was.

My brain was functioning slowly looking from its wrist to its eye to its overall physical state. Then it hit me full force, knocking the air out of my lungs as it felt like one of my blades had been plunged into my chest and was tortuously being twisted.

A scream escaped my mouth before I could stop it as I sobbed out her name.

"Elaine-no, ELAINE!"

I wanted so desperately to run over to her and hug her, squeeze her till she returned to normal. But I had to keep reminding myself that what was in front of me wasn't a 'her' any more, it was an 'it'. I watched as she paced towards me, slowly getting closer. She blurred over in my vision as a crowd of tears struggled to disperse from my eyes. When I was finally able to see again, she was only a couple meters away from me, snapping h-its teeth hungrily. I quickly sheathed my sword while swallowing the lump in my throat.

Another step closer.

"I'm so, so sorry Elaine..." I murmured an apology.

Without another second to waste I grasped the handle of one of my machetes and pierced the blade into the side of her skull.

Her blood splattered around the area, staining dots of red around my face, hands and neck.

I wasn't dead but I might as well have been as I fell to the ground with her, laying on my knees with a shattered heart. I had no one left, maybe I should just join all my loved ones, I'll probably just die a more torturous death anyway.