At All Costs

Dangerous Beginnings

'Bang!'

A gunshot rang out, shattering the peace in the forest, sending the birds scattering in all directions out of the trees and bushes. A girl - a 14 year old girl - sprinted through a clearing in the trees, ducking and weaving as bullets whizzed past her, splintering and fracturing whatever stood in their way. She was afraid, terrified for her life. A group of bandits had captured her and the child she had sworn to protect, and had then tried taking him from her. She had promised multiple people that he would be safe with her, so this had left her with no other viable option than to take him and run. And run she did, faster than she'd ever run before. She knew the bandits would stop at nothing to get the two of them back - be it dead or alive.

As she approached the end of the clearing, she looked back over her shoulder, desperate for a break from the gunfire that threatened her escape plans. She got it. Glancing back, she noticed that a cluster of walkers had diverted her attackers' focus. Seizing the moment, she dove into cover behind a thick, bushy shrub. Given that her stalkers were preoccupied, they did not see this sudden change in tact from the girl.

Silently at first, but growing in volume, the toddler she was carrying began to whimper due to hunger. Whilst it had only been a few hours since they'd last eaten, it felt like it had been days. Upon hearing this, she leaned in close and whispered

'Please AJ, please be quiet until they're gone. It'll be alright, I promise.'

AJs' eyes grew wide with fright, even larger than they had been when he and the girl were being chased, but he seemingly understood what she'd murmured, so he obeyed. Slowly, the groans and gargles of walkers grew less and less, eventually diminishing to the point where no more could be heard. This allowed the group of bandits to reset their attention back to their primary target.

'Damn it! She must've gotten away in all the commotion, but she can't have gone far,' the apparent leader growled, his eyes searching the forest clearing for anything that could give an indication of where they'd gone. 'Follow that track.' He gestured to a footpath at the end of the clearing where the two were hiding. 'We're bound to catch right up to her again,' he said, and the group headed off at a brisk jog. Foolishly, they all went in one group, which would have reduced the chances of finding their targets even if they had headed down the afore - mentioned path. As they passed the bush where AJ and the girl were hiding, both held their breath, fearful for what would happen if they were caught.

'Six,' thought the girl as they dashed by. 'Less than I thought.'

A sense of relief flooded her brain as the voices disappeared into the distance. Feeling that her throat was running dry from the adrenaline, she took a water bottle out of her bag and took a sip. AJ looked from her to the bottle and back again, indicating that he was thirsty as well. He took a mouthful of water before it was slipped back into the backpack. The girl zipped it up and peered over the top of the bush.

'Clear, not a living thing in sight,' she breathed thankfully, wiping the sweat off of her brow with her t - shirts' sleeve.

She quickly put the bag on her back and gathered AJ in her arms. She was about to turn around and head in a different direction to the bandits when she heard a branch snap behind her...