Happily Ever Afterlife

The Human

 His bloodshot eyes were locked on Alex, as though he was prepared to kill her if she so much as took in a single breath. The human, a young girl, maybe two or three years younger than Alex, held a rifle aimed at Alex's head. While the rest of her seemed to be trembling, her hands were perfectly still. Alex's misty grey-blue eyes locked with the girls own chocolate brown ones. Duke's savage snarling and growling yanked Alex from her thoughts as she saw Ren and Duke snapping their jaws at each other. Ashnik shied away from Duke like the usually timid walker always had, while Kai simply stared at the human, as if he were sizing her up.

Suddenly, Ren sprange for the girl, leaping over Duke and avoiding the dog's shark-like teeth with a swift kick to the muzzle. Three shots rang out, and Ren fell to the ground, limp, just inches from the girl's feet. Thick, discolored, clotted blood seeped from three small puncture wounds in the skull. Ashnik gazed at Ren's corpse with a mixture of fear and curiosity written on his face. Alex wasn't that surprised. Sure, she was indeed curious, but not surprised. They may have been more durable than the zombies everyone had written about or shown in movies, but they weren't invincible. Their skulls were still vulnerable. Kai snarled, baring his teeth. He'd apparently taken over the role as the alpha male. He took one menacing step towards the girl, but Alex side-stepped in front of her. She had just seen her father-figure drop dead, she had no intention of seeing her best friend die too. The girl aimed for Alex, next. Finally, Duke seemed to somewhat snap out of his trance. Whining, he shuffled over to Alex, sitting at her feet, facing the girl. Sighing, she lowered her rifle.

"Move." She ordered, her voice stern.

Duke stood his ground, daring the girl to make him move. Once again, the girl sighed. A soft wind passed, and Alex caught a whiff of the girl's scent once more. Was it possible to smell like maple syrup in the apocalypse?

"Fine, then.." She raised the gun once again, aiming directly between Alex's eyes. Duke snarled, baring his teeth. She girl groaned, the rifle dropping back down to her side. "Fine, Fine. I won't kill them."

At this, Duke bounded to her side, stub tail wiggling excitedly. The girl turned away from Duke, her gaze meeting Alex's.

"You got a name?.. I'm Sam."

Alex stayed quiet, not quite sure what to say.

"C'mon, I know you speak. I've heard your kind talk before."

"Name's... Alex.." Alex finally wheezed. Sam snorted in amusement.

"That's pretty human for a walker."

"Used... To be... Human."

"I find that hard to believe.."

"Me.... Too..." Alex chided, her lips lifting into a half smile. Sam seemed taken aback.

"N-Name... I-Is... Ashnik.." Ashnik's soft voice wheezed from behind Kai.

"Alright, then... Who's the tall one?"

Kai remained silent, so Alex took the opportunity to answer for him.

"Name's... Kai.... Doesn't talk... Yet...."

Sam seemed to be processing all of this.

"Alright.." She glanced at Duke. "What about him?"

"Duke... My dog.... "

"He's, uh.. He's something, I'll say that."

"Yeah... I k-know..." Alex responded, her voice cocky. Kai watched Alex in amazement. He'd never heard her speak so much.