Flesh Eaters

You Gotta Have Hope

Chapter 14 - You Gotta Have Hope

*Murphy's POV*

I have ta' get outta here. Grey needs me.

I race down the cellar stairs, passed the body of my sister. My eyes scan the cellar for something to break the metal doors lockin' me in here. I race across the room and my eyes lock on a wooden baseball bat. I pick it up and realize it has blood dried on it.

My mind flashes to Grey tied up by her wrists. To the purple bruises that cover her body.

I feel sick as I realize how she received those bruises.

I shake the thoughts away and race back to the metal doors. I grip the bat as tight as I can and swing it at the doors. The blow causes the metal to bulge outward. I smirk as I realize I'll soon be free.

I swing the bat again and the doors opens more. The chain holding them shut strains against the bulge of the doors.

As I prepare to swing the bat again I hear a voice echo behind me. I spin around and see nothin' but the limp body of my sister. I stand still, listenin', and then I hear it. A voice from the CB radio.

"If you are one of living there is hope. Head East, toward the rising sun. You will arrive at an abandoned police station. Continue East for three days and you will arrive at Safe Haven. Each morning, when the sun first rises, we will check the gait for survivors.

Hold on to your hope and...."

The voice fades out before it can complete its sentence.

Hope. I feel it.

I turn back towards the door and swing the bat again. The metal booms and the chain breaks as the doors swing open.

Cold, frigid air greats me as I step out of the cellar. The sun sits just above the horizon makin' the sky a pale reddish blue. I adjust my crossbow and start toward the forest.

As I round the corner of the house I hear a scream followed the shout of a man.

Grey.

I pull my crossbow off my back as I burst into a run and only to freeze in place.

Grey lays face first on the ground at the edge of the forest. Her hands claw desperately at the ground as she tries to escape the man. She screams for help only to have her face slammed into the ground.

The man, Robby, pushes Grey's head down as he forces himself on her.

My mind slips away from me as I watch him violate her. I lose any sense of myself as I drop my crossbow and anger fills me. I move forward without even realizing what I'm doing. I stop behind Robby who's to focused on what he's doing to notice me.

I feel myself reach out and grab Robby by the hair that covers the back of his head. I don't know where I went in my mind as I ripped him off of Grey and threw him onto the ground.

He looks up at me in shock as he scrambles to pull his pants up. He moves to run but I don't give him the chance. I send I swift kick to his jaw causin' him to fall flat on his back. Before he can recover from the blow I'm on top of him, sendin' punch after punch ta' his face.

Blood leaks from his nose and his face starts to swell. He tries to block my punches with his arms but he's already to damaged to function.

I don't know when my hands stopped punchin' but I find myself squeezin' his neck. His hands weakly claw at mine as he gasps for air. My hands squeeze tighter as a thought of him on top of Grey enter my mind. Blood starts to trickle out of the corner of his mouth and his skin grows palish blue.