The Last Stand

Chapter 1

The Last Stand

By: Spencer Warnick

Chapter One

          Andrea's feet pounded against the hard gravel road. Just make it to the house. They can't get you at the house. She thought to herself. Her feet hurt from the constant running in her very uncomfortable boots. She slid across some gravel and quickly flew around the corner. The brown wooden house was dilapidated and was in need of a lot work, but it protected Andrea from her many attackers so she was glad to call it home. Many had nothing to call home and were vulnerable to the creatures. She reached the house and flew up the 3 loose steps. Pulling a golden key out of her pocket, she turned to see her attackers inching closer and closer. She turned back around and shoved the key into the lock. After entering and relocking the doors, Andrea heard the hands slamming against the small wooden door. Panting heavily, she collapsed into a chair and started taking deep breaths. Before long, she drifted off to sleep.

            A clatter in the back of the house woke Andrea about an hour later. Thoughts quickly ran through her head. Did I leave the door open? Did one get in here? I could've sworn I locked all the doors before I went out... She slowly pulled out her pistol and crept toward the bedroom at the back of the small house. The door to the room was cracked open and she distinctly heard shuffling around the room. She sighed slowly when she realized it was her weapon room. When Andrea was a foot away from the door she held her gun up and kicked the door open. She charged in and pointed a gun at the figure crouched in the corner. The person quickly turned around and shouted, "Please don't shoot! I'm not one of them!".

            The girl turned to a boarded window and pointed out then returned her glance to Andrea who still had her eyes and gun pointed at her. The girl had a pleading look on her face. Her blonde hair draped across the right half of her face, but the left side was dirty and cut up. She looked like she hadn't eaten in weeks and hadn't slept in as long. "You been out there long?" Andrea asked the new girl.

            "Yeah. I had a house about 40 miles away, but when they attacked I was the only one who survived. I got out and ran. I was on the road for several days without any shelter or food. So when I saw your house I figured I would just go in to find any supplies I could and rest for a bit. I'm so sorry, I can leave." She explained.

            The girl got up and walked past Andrea walking toward the door with her head down.

"Wait! You can stay!" Andrea called out across the room.

"Really?" the girl inched back towards Andrea.

"Yeah, what's your name? I'm Andrea."

"I'm Taylor." The girl explained.

"Nice to meet you, Taylor. First of all, let's get you fed and geared up then I can take you into the bedroom upstairs and you can take a nap."

"Wow. You're being very kind and you barely even know me. Thank you!" Taylor gushed.

            With that, Andrea led Taylor into the small kitchen and pulled a box of crackers off of a shelf. She pulled out several crackers and handed them to Taylor who took them and quickly ate them. After thanking Andrea several times and drinking 3 glasses of water, Taylor found herself being led up the stairs and past a small gate Andrea must've made from scrap wood to protect her when she slept in case Creatures broke in. Andrea led Taylor to a small room that had one bed with a floppy mattress and a soft cot in the corner. Andrea handed Taylor a small gun and taught her how to use it. Taylor then laid down on the cot and soon fell asleep, leaving Andrea wondering how she could keep both of them alive. Arriving at the idea that she would have to scavenge for more supplies in other houses, she laid her head down and joined Taylor in the dream world where there were no problems, no responsibilities, and the world was still normal.

            Andrea was standing alone on a stretch of road, the wind rushing around her face. It was a beautiful place full of mountains and meadows with beautiful flowers. She tried to walk towards one of the meadows, but realized her feet were stuck to the ground. She tried her hardest, but just couldn't move. Suddenly, the Creatures started coming up through the meadows, crushing the flowers as they walked towards her. Leading them was Taylor, but she had Changed. She was one of them now. Andrea pulled out her pistol and started to shoot at them, but before long she started running out of bullets. She tossed her gun to the side and pulled out a small hand knife. Starting with the closest Creatures, she started stabbing and killing many of them. Andrea killed many, but more just came coming and coming and before long she had been bitten. She started to shake violently on the ground. When the Creatures moved away, Andrea had completely become a Creature. She got up and heard a scream, but then realized it was her own. She was suddenly laying in her bed with sweat dripping down her face, a completely normal Taylor standing near her. She realized her heart was beating rapidly and she was starting to hyperventilate.

"Andrea! Calm down." Taylor started. "It was just a dream".

            Andrea's heart slowly returned to normal speed and she started taking deep breaths. After about 3 minutes, she was finally back to normal. Wiping away sweat from her forehead, she sat up and faced Taylor.

"Bad dream?" Taylor questioned.

"You could say that." Andrea started.

"How long have you been having them?"

"About 2 months. Since the Creatures got loose."

"Oh. I've been having them too, but not nearly as bad as you. You looked like you were having a seizure."

"I did? I guess I never knew. I haven't had any "roommates" since this started happening."

"So, do you know what they are?" Taylor questioned after some time.

"Yeah, don't you?" Andrea asked back.

"No, our TV broke so I haven't even heard how they are formed or whatever."

"Well, what I know is that they are kind of like zombies, but not the kind you see on TV. Those zombies are dumb and slow. Whatever those are, they are completely different. They were created for the US to win the war. The government thought that a "super soldier" would be a good idea, but of course they didn't realize how strong they made it. It broke out and started attacking anyone in sight. Before long, there were more of them then us." Andrea explained.

            The girls looked out the window into the darkness and saw the Creatures approaching and groaning. Pondering how they would get past them in the morning to go scavenging, Andrea returned to her small bed and fell back to sleep the worries of the world still on her mind.

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Sorry, it's super long! Hope you enjoy!

Please comment when you're ready for more and I'm going to start checking my account more often. Once again hope you enjoyed! Have a nice day, awesome peeps!

P.S. Sorry that my writing isn't very good ;) :|

-Spence