Zombie Attack

4. Events unfold

I woke up with the sound of the footsteps from the night before drumming in my ears. I thought it was my imagination so I shook my head trying to shake the sound away. Whilst rubbing the sleep out of my eyes I suddenly realised that I didn't know where I was: then I remembered. All the events from the day before came flooding back to me. Nobody else was awake and the silence of the room fell around me with only an occasional snore from Olivia.

* Tap Tap Tap *

I froze unable to move, staring at the window hidden beneath two strips of fabric.

* Tap Tap Tap *

The sound sent a shiver down my spine.

* Tap Tap Tap *

The tapping was getting louder and my head couldn't bare it any longer. I pulled the curtains open and smiling up at me in the flesh and blood was a face, a familiar face: Bella's face.

I screamed and quickly shut the curtains. My breathing rapidly increased and I could hardly catch a breath. Harry, Maddy and Olivia leapt out of bed at the sound of the sheer terror in my voice. "Zoe! What's the matter?" Maddy asked hauling me up and sitting me back on the bed. Tears were streaming down my face and all I could manage to say was: "I'm seeing the dead." Maddy gave me a massive hug.

"It's normal you know" she said. "To see the people you love and miss for a couple of days after they're gone." She offered trying to calm me down but I shook my head.

"Not if they are right outside a window." I pointed out opening the curtains to reveal a puzzled Bella. Maddy and Olivia shrieked and stared with open mouths at the window.

"Good, so you see her too!" I laughed, clarifying that I was indeed seeing Bella and not some figment of my imagination. Bella banged on the window again so I pushed it up and dragged her through.

"Thanks for getting me in so quickly." She said sarcastically.

"How did you even get up here?"

"The drainpipe, something I learned in the summer." She flashed a cheeky smile before standing up and brushing down her trousers.

"How did you get away?" I asked.

"As soon as I had their attention, I began running as fast as I could in the opposite direction. I managed to outrun most of them but a small pack was still on my trail and somehow I ended up spending a night in a bin."

"Good job you were on the athletics team at school then."

***

"What's our plan then?"

"I don't know. Our whole world has been turned upside down in the last 24 hours. We have no idea why this happened or who it's affected." I took a deep breath. "I really don't know."

"Well we can't stay here that's for sure. We'll soon run out of food and who knows how long the water will stay on for. Not long I reckon." Bella pointed out.

"How about we load up the mini bus with supplies from here and go find a house that'll have the right layout to stay in until this blows over." Maddie paused, we were all thinking the same thing; if this blows over.

"We'll still need more food and as much bottled water as we can find. Maybe we should go to the high street and get some stuff from there?"

"Sounds like a plan. It'll be like a regular shipping trip, except everything's free!" Bella laughed.

"You don't get it Bella do you? Everything's just a joke to you. Just this once, can you be serious about something? Can you just pretend to be concerned and worried for once?" Olivia cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. Nobody said anything. She shook her head and walked out.

I followed her out of the room and found her sitting in her mum and dads room crying into a photo album. I sat down on the bed next to her and put my arm around her. She closed her eyes and rested her head on my shoulder.

"Hey." I whispered softly. "You know Bella didn't mean it like that, I think that's just how she's dealing with it."

"I know... its just everything was s-so sudden, I-I still haven't got my head around it." She stuttered.

"None of us have Liv. Everyone's going to react differently, because none of us know what to do. We are all scared. We haven't any warning or anything and nothing school or our parents have taught us is going to help us survive. We have to stick together and stay hopeful that someone, somewhere knows what's going on and how to sort it out." She nodded wiping her tears away with a soggy sleeve.

"We have to get through this. We have to survive this... whatever this is."

World War One broke out in July 1914 and everyone believed that it would all be over by Christmas, but it lasted four years and countless lives were taken. Was this our world war one? Would we see it through until the end? Or for us, would it be over by Christmas?

***

The blinds in the kitchen were drawn, and the curtains shut. We were eating at the table in silence, scared to make a sound in case something from outside decided it wanted to come in. We had finished loading up the mini bus and we were ready to leave. Anything we deemed useful had been packed up and neatly stacked at the back of the mini bus. We had decided collectively to lock and tie together the handles at the rear, so there would be less chance of something being able to get into the vehicle.

Our senses were alert as we quietly got up to leave. A loud knock stopped us in our tracks as we were leaving the kitchen. "What was that?" Olivia whispered, her eyes wide. We all exchanged nervous glances frozen on the spot. Another loud knock made us all jump. "Knock knock, who's there?" Bella whispered. I elbowed her in the ribs before pointing to the back door in the kitchen where blinds were also drawn. I slowly approached the door, my heart beating rapidly in my chest. I lifted a corner of the blind and gasped loudly my hand flying to my mouth. A girl of about nine or ten was staring up at me from the other side of the door. I turned to face the others, "there's a girl outside, we need to help her." We cautiously unlocked the door and hauled her inside before hastily closing and relocking the door.

"Hello, I'm Zoe. What's your name?" The girl stared up at me blankly before starting to sob. "Myy name is S-sarah. Myy mum. Do-do you knoww where she i-is?" She stuttered breathlessly. "I'm sorry Sarah." I gulped, how can you explain to a little girl what's happened when you don't even know yourself. She began to cry again as Maddy rubbed her back in circles of comfort. She helped her over to a chair; Sarah was shaking, tears soaking her face. My heart broke as I took in her appearance. Her hair was a nest of leaves and twigs and her clothes were ripped. And that's when I saw it. Her neck; a bite. I pulled Bella over to one side. "Bella, her neck... she's been bitten. We can't help her. She'll die. Just like Hannah did." A single tear rolled down my cheek as I watched Sarah helplessly trying to take a sip of water.                                                                                   "I know Zo, but we have to make her feel safe and comfortable." Maddy gently lifted the girls head and put a cushion under it. Suddenly Sarah convulsed; Coughing and spurting, blood pouring out of her mouth into a puddle of crimson red. She collapsed on the floor in a heap. Olivia cried out. Sarah wasn't moving. She was dead.

In just days we have witnessed horrors that no child should witness.