"How much longer?"
I shook myself. I felt so hungry, so thirsty, so tired.
"I don't know, April."
I tried to correct my stooped figure. The backpack weighed a ton, forcing me to lean forward. Back-breaking work.
"But Daddy, I'm tired!"
I forced my head up, my eyes hardly staying open more than a crack.
"I don't know April!" he snapped, snatching my attention from under me. April cowered away from John. She had tears in her eyes, and her bottom lip trembled.
"Hey, you don't need to shout, John." said Jordan, his voice firm and agitated, and slightly raspy.
"Don't tell me what to do."
"I didn't tell you what to do, I was just pointing out that you didn't need to shout. She's your daughter, for god's sake!"
"Stop it, Jordan. You'll regret it."
"No, I'm not going to stand by while you make everyone more miserable than they already were! You're not the only one who's lost someone!"
"You don't know what it's like to lose someone you love, Jordan, you don't know-"
"Yes I do fucking know what it's like to lose someone I love! He was my best friend, god damnit!" Jordan yelled, with a buried anger so strong it weighed down the air. The tension almost made it difficult to breath in the already muggy atmosphere of the thick woods.
Everyone was silent, even John. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Our heavy breathing was the only sound.
"Fuck this." Jordan muttered, before turning left into the trees, away from the rough road we were following.
"Jordan!" I shouted, turning away from the group. I could hear twigs snapping, but that noise was rapidly decreasing in volume.
I turned around, looked John in the eye, and spoke only four words.
"Get your shit together."
I turned my back to them and placed a foot onto the damp forest floor. The snapping twigs had ceased. Then, muscles protesting, I pushed myself into a jog, weaving between the trees until only a crack of light hit the floor. Branches whipped my face and thorns tore into my legs. My lungs were doing a terrible job, my eyes fuzzy at the edges.
"Jordan?" I shouted. It physically hurt to talk, my throat so dry the words burned like acid in my mouth. I couldn't tell where I was, which direction I was traveling. Where the hell am I?
A bush to my right caught me off guard and ensnared my foot, pulling me to the ground. My face crashed into the muddy, sharp undergrowth, slashing my skin everywhere. I pulled myself up into a sitting position, untangling my foot. My face stung and my body ached, not the mention the fire I was breathing in. My foot was freed, and my sense of direction was lost.
I had no idea which direction I came from.
Snap.
I froze. Jordan? No, he would have spoken. The others? They wouldn't come in here.
Shit.
Using the tree behind me as support, I pushed myself up onto my feet and silently slid out my axe. I held it firmly in both hands, the sweat on my palms making it difficult to grip, and held it behind my head.
Snap.
Should I speak? Should I stay silent?
"Hello?" I asked, quietly. The snapping abruptly stopped. Moments passed, the silence hung thick on the air like fog.
"Mflnugna."
"What?" I asked, my voice like that of a mouse. "Jordan, is that you?"
"Hngff."
There, standing between two trees, was a man.
"Jor-"
I was cut off. Strong hands pulled me back, one over my mouth. I struggled, writhing and trying my hardest to break free, to no avail.
"It's me." the haggard, rough and yet gentle voice whispered to my ear. A voice that could send shivers rushing down my spine, that could calm me even in the most dire situations. It was him.
The hand over my mouth released and I turned around, to see the owner of the voice. It was, of course, Jordan, and I immediately threw myself at him in some sort of a weak bear hug. He took a few moments to respond, then eventually his arms wrapped around my back.
"Don't go." I whispered.
"Shh." he whispered back, pulling away and motioning to the figure between the trees. It swayed gently from side to side, and only then did I notice the reaching tendrils of rot climbing up my noise. I swung the backpack around onto one shoulder to search through it, and pulled out the two pistols.
"I forgot. Here, you never know when you might need it." I said, handing him the gun with the slightly longer barrel. He raised an eyebrow, and took it.
"Sure?" he asked. He played with it in his hands.
"Yeah, safety's on. You know how to switch it off?"
"Yeah. You taking the shot?"
"No. Too loud. You never know where they might be." I said, peering around the tree. It still stood there. "I have an axe."
"I know."
"I know you know. Just saying."
"Okay. You gonna kill it or what?"
"Give me a second, you fud."
He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side.
"The hell's a fud?"
"Scottish insult."
"Meaning?"
"Vagina. It means vagina." I answered, a faint grin spreading over my lips.
"You're calling me vagina?" he asked, a stupid side smile creeping onto his face.
"Shut up."
"Fine."
I bagged the gun and pulled out the axe.
"It's gone."
"What?" I asked, lowering the axe.
"It's gone." he repeated. I looked around the tree, and there the figure was, in the exact same position.
"Shut up!" I whispered, gently punching him in the arm. "Douchebag."
I poked my head out from around the tree again, and readied the axe.
"Woah." he said, leaving back. "Watch where you swing that thing."
"I can swing my thing wherever I want." I retorted.
"You can swing your thing?"
"Don't go there, Jordan." I replied, suppressing my urge to giggle. "Don't even try."
I broke away from behind the tree, and advanced on the zombie.
It turned around slowly. I froze.
The second it's bloody, cloudy eyes saw me, they changed a vicious colour of red. The skin was peeling from it's face. It's rasped breathing short.
I brought the axe round with as much force as I could muster. It cut into the side of it's head, causing it to drop to the ground, twitching and jerking around. I pulled the axe free and swung it again, this time hitting it square on the forehead. It stopped moving, and any life left in it's eyes disappeared.
"Done?" he asked.
"Done."
"So... What are we doing now?"
"Moving."
"Moving where?"
"Somewhere safe."
