Short Story

Infected

Again anyone that reads this, this is an assignment I had for my English class and I didn't want it to go to waste, so I thought I could post it to here cause I'm a pleb and why not lol.

SO if you actually read this, thanks for not letting it be a waste and enjoy.
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THUD! THUD! By the sound of the front door being banged on, she knew she had to relocate to another vacant area for the sake of her life. They would eventually have caught up with her, but she didn't think it would be this soon. As quickly as she could, Maya stuffed what was left of the supplies she gathered; two cans of ravioli, four water bottles, a pack of batteries, an almost dead flashlight, and luckily a first-aid kit.

Maya hastily, swung her bag full of supplies over her shoulders and raced towards the door grabbing what she used as weapons, a wooden baseball bat with rusted barb-wire wrapped around it, almost engraving the wood and an ordinary kitchen knife. That was all she could find within the struggles of her survival so far, due to what was happening throughout the north-western hemisphere. Its been a month since the break-out of the disease started and a week since it hit Vancouver, Canada, her hometown. Maya peeked through the dirty, cracked window of the house she resided in for 2 days, checking the surrounding area making sure none of them were there. CRACK! THUD! They made it inside the house. She quickly hurtled out of the door and over the fence safely, continuing down the road until she was a decent distance away.

Maya was all alone on her journey, no friends, family, neighbors, or even a dog to accompany her. She lost her mom when the disease hit Vancouver. They were at a concert together when they heard a scream that wasn't for the enjoyment of listening to the music, it was fear. Immediately a giant crowd of people started swarming for any exit there was at the venue, Maya gripped onto her mother's hand like her life depended on it. They stood watching, observing, just trying to get a glimpse of what had caused the paranoia in the area. Eventually their grip on each other broke apart by the mass of people pushing and shoving to save their own lives. The last words Maya's mother said to her were, "I love you, darling. You'll know where to find me," and then she was gone with the crowd.

She walked by an elementary school that had cracks in the blood-stained walls. There were small groups of the infected roaming amongst the playground and in the building, they are- were in fact just little boys and girls cursed with becoming these foul, decaying creatures. Maya muddled on not looking back, in fear she might be followed by one of them. It was horrifying being alone, not knowing what can come out of the dark woods and grab her, taking her as a meal. "It's okay Maya. Everything will be alright," but her thoughts were far off, everything was not going to be alright.

Maya stumbled upon a small, run down boutique. She checked her surroundings before walking through the glass door, that activated a bell at the top that made a little jingle sound. The placid air was serenely quiet, but the stench of rotting carcasses made her stomach feel queasy. She gathered what she could of the supplies that were left behind when others come through and ransacked the place. Behind her was one of them, stalking her as it's prey. It was quiet, eerily quiet and Maya didn't see what was coming for her until the thing lunged, toppling over her aiming to get a bite from her warm flesh. Maya was struggling, keeping its bony, rotten mouth away from her body, but with the little strength she had, she knew she wouldn't be able to keep up a fight for much longer. She looked into its pale, grey eyes which only antagonized it even more as it thrashed with more force for her, she looked around quickly searching for anything that could help her when she saw a shimmer underneath the shelf she was near. It was a pistol. She had to be quick to be able to grasp it and shoot the monster before it bit her, as quick as a bolt of lightning she grabbed it and aimed the barrel of the gun at its head and pulled the trigger.

"I'm sorry." She never wanted to kill one of them, because they were humans before just like her, but not anymore. Maya pushed the dead corpse off of her body, a red stain now on her shirt and splattered all over her face. She looked down at the corpse and shot it one more time in the head, to be sure it was truly dead now. She grabbed her bag that fell out of her hands and slung it over her shoulder and then grabbing the bat. With the pistol in her right hand and the bat in the other, she feverishly made her way out of the small store and continued on.

On the side of the road there was a sign, that read;

5 MILES TO MILITARY BASE 75

Maya was almost there. She knew in her mind that her mom would've gone there, because that's where she met her father. A brave, noble man who was selfless and proud of what he had even if it was very little, but sadly he was docked on the other side of the world before the breakout happened. "What if he thought mom and I were dead or not," she thought. Maya solemnly looked up from her feet and noticed a giant gate twenty feet away from her.
It was the military base. The gate creaked open for her with the slight pressure of her hand. The place looked barren, like there was no signs of life. Maya's heart raced as her thoughts took over thinking how her mom hasn't made it. A heart wrenching sob came out of her mouth, clearly heartbroken. A couple yards away from the wrecked girl, hiding behind a concession stand was a woman no taller than 5'7. She glanced from behind the corner of the stand and peeked over at the girl crying on her knees. She cautiously stood up inching closer and closer to the girl, feeling a sense of familiarity. "Maya," she breathed out, slowly kneeling down towards her. Maya looked up after hearing her name melodiously come out of someone's mouth, she knew it was her mother. Maya leaped off of her knees and flung her arms around her mother's neck. "I missed you so much!" Maya exclaimed, more trails of tears streaming down her face.

There was a clanking noise from behind the gathered pair, and then thudding footsteps followed after it. They both turned around and they were there. Some were hunched over, with hunger in their eyes making their way towards the two females. Maya and her mother quickly stood up and frantically ran away from the gate, the infected gaining on them, Maya stumbled to the ground a feeling of pain swelling up in her ankle. She gasped out and tried to call for her mom for help but she was out of sight. She crouched over her leg and held onto her ankle, putting slight pressure on it. Maya was then pinned to the ground by an infected. She struggled keeping its snapping jaws away from her flushed skin. It was too strong for her, her arms grew weaker as it inched closer towards her. Maya knew this was going to be the end for her, but at least she got to see her mom one last time. With the tears rushing down her face, she let her arms fall down to her side and as the infected creature was an inch away from her shoulder she woke up with a sweat in her bed. She shakily took a breath in and looked around her slightly lit room, from the sunlight seeping in from behind her curtains. Maya faintly heard her mother's voice resounding through the door of her bedroom calling her down for breakfast. It was all just a dream. The creatures were fake. The whole apocalypse was fake. Her voice wavered as she gently whispered, "it wasn't real."

THE END