Sadie Ambers
Chapter one: The Goose
I run my hands through my long blonde hair and then I see the roamers.
"Mom! Dad! We need to go now!" I yell to them, our car broke down and they're trying to fix it. They are coming closer and closer.
Before I know it, my parents are dead. I'm covered in blood. Not sure if it's mine, my parents, or the roamers. I look at the blood on my hands. I start panicking and trying to wipe the blood on my even bloodier shirt. The blood just spreads everywhere and I just start to cry, putting my hands over my eyes.
"No Sadie, stop crying. They wouldn't want you to do this. They would want you to keep fighting. And that's what you'll do." I convince myself. I open the car door and kill the one roamer on my mom. The other comes after me and I trip. It's disgusting teeth chomp near my face. I scatter to find my knife I dropped and when I do I kill the one on top of me. It's gross body laying on me. I push it off.
I lay on the ground for a minute and breathe. Huffing, I get up and search my parents dead bodies for weapons. I find my moms knife and my dads machete, his secret gun that he made me promise not to tell my mom about. I go in the car and shove everything in my old, black backpack. Everything I could use for living.
Looking at my parents one more time, I breathe heavily. I walk away before I start crying again. I won't. I can't. I grip my knife tightly in my hand and start walking along the lonely road. My stomach aches every breath, every step I take. I haven't eaten properly in months.
I hear leaves crackle. I look over towards the noise, raising my knife to discover it's only a goose. I immediately get a gruesome idea but if I don't do it... I'll die. I walk slowly towards the goose, plunging my knife deep into its chest. It makes a croak sound then it stops moving... stops struggling.
After eating the goose
I walk more, my legs hurt, my eyes are sore, my feet feel like they will fall off and my stomach hurts. A sharp pain goes all the way up my leg, into my chest. I decide I need to sit down and take a break. I'm dehydrated definitely. If I don't drink something soon I'll die possibly as soon as tomorrow.
I push my sore, helpless body off the ground and try to find a store. I hear growls, the familiar sound, from behind me. I look back and I see a herd coming right towards me.
"Holy hell." I whisper under my breath. I secure my backpack on my shoulders and start running, fast. Some of the roamers are closer and some are farther. A few stumble out of the woods ahead of me and I pull out my gun, knowing that my knife won't do much good for me. I shoot three, they go down and I run past their, now actually dead, bodies. I keep running. Farther and farther until I can't see them anymore.
I catch my breath which takes a couple minutes. I have no food, no water to regain my energy. I hide behind a large log as the herd passes. The stench of the dead haunts my nose, making me want to puke. I have no one. My family is dead, my old group is dead, all my friends are dead. Can I ever trust anyone again? If there are people to trust.
After I know the herd is well gone I stand up, just to be tackled and pushed down again. I try to fight the person pushing me down, they are strong. It's not a boy. It's a girl. I see the long hair flowing around as she struggles to pin me down, I keep fighting her.
She grunts and I flip us so I'm on her. I grip my knife from when I dropped it when she knocked me down, holding it against her neck, she stops struggling.
"What are you gonna kill me?" She asks, squirming a bit. I tighten my grip on the knife. I study her face.
I don't answer.
"Quiet? Can you even talk?" She asks, a sick smile across her face. "I'm Larque." (Said like "Lark") I take the knife away and stand up. Still not speaking, I grab her hand and pull her up. "So where are we going... um?" She wants to know my name.
"I don't know where I am going." I mumble. I am walking ahead of her.
"Now why won't you tell me your name?" She asks. I stop and turn around.
"Because I don't want to." I say, annoyed. She scoffs. I storm away from her.
"Why don't you want to?" She asks, running to catch up. I roll my eyes. I'll tell her soon, I just don't trust her. Maybe I never will. "You really don't talk much." Larque points out again.
A roamer stumbles out behind a tree, I jump. Gripping my knife in my hand, I stab the roamer through its eye. I keep walking, brushing my hands on my stained jeans.
"Are you thirsty?" She asks. I stop in my tracks. I stare at the ground then turn around and pin her against the ground. One leg on one side, one on the other.
"What do you want from me?" I hiss in her ear. She giggles.
"I don't want anything. I believe people work better with other people." She whispers. Larque brushes her hair away from her eyes.
I get off of her and grab her water bottle. "Drink it." I order. She grabs the bottle, looking in my eyes the whole time, unscrewing the cap, lifting the bottle to her mouth and drinking the water. She stops and hands the bottle to me, smirking.
"You drink it." She whispers, moving around me. She walks forward. I turn around and watch her walk a little farther away from me, I drink the water. "Come on... I still don't know your name." She hints, wanting me to tell her.
"And you never will." I say mysteriously. "Just kidding. I'll tell you eventually. I just don't trust you yet."
Someone sneaks up behind Larque, I open my mouth to let her know about the boy behind her but she isn't looking at me. The boy pushes her onto the ground, she rolls onto her back and pulls out her gun, when she sees the boys face, she laughs.
"Seth!" She exclaims excitedly. She jumps up and hugs him. My eyes go wide and Larque looks at me. "Oh sorry, this is my brother. Seth." Brother?!
"Oh. Um Larque." Seth is staring at me. "When you jumped me, did you care to mention a brother?!" I ask. I look at Seth disgusted. He smiles at me. I look back at Larque.
"He's joining us now." Larque says.
"What's your name?" Seth asks.
"I didn't tell her, and I'm sure as hell not telling you." I turn around and walk. They follow me.
