Run or Die

The Boy

Jason's POV

A blood curdling scream made everyone in the room wince. Someone bounded up the stairs and I saw it was Leo. His eyes shone with worry, and his face filled with panic and fear. "Kid... At... The... Gates!" He panted, "Not... Even a... Teen!"

Annabeth, Piper, Hazel, Frank, Nico, Reyna, Thalia and I all jump up and rush down the stairs, following Leo. They creak and our footsteps create loud echoes in the nearly empty building we call home. We rush to the windows and see nine zombies, all walkers, slowly approaching a kid, who's back is pressed against our gate. He let out a guttural scream again and we all wince. It took a second for it to process he was screaming mom. One of the zombies was recently turned, her face almost normal, other than the fact that her face was pale, her eyes dull, and the huge bite mark ushing blood from the side of her neck. "MOM!" The boy screamed again, letting out loud sobs. The women had brown hair and a once pretty face, which was now splattered with blood. "HELP! SOMEONE! MOM!" The boy screams, crying even louder.

"Can we help him?" Piper asked breathlessly.

No one answers for a second. "Open the gates. Everyone armed?" I asked steely. The walkers were getting closer to the kid.

Unchorused answers of "Aye." come from my team.

"Then open the gates. Now!"

Leo scrambled over to a control board over to the side of the room and flips a switch. There's a loud squealing noise as the gates slowly start to open. "Go go go!" I yell, and everyone runs for the gates twenty feet in front of us.

The boy looks back at the gate, which is swinging in very slowly. Too slowly. My team runs faster as the walkers get closer. The other eight are obviously much older. Their flesh is falling apart, with white, dull eyes. If they do have hair, which most of them don't, it's ratty, greasy and disgusting and in small patches that are falling out of their disgusting scalp, huge plates of dead skin hanging off of their bodies like bugs clinging to skin. The boys eyes widened when he saw us, and he looked desperate. The walkers weren't far at all. They could almost reach them...

Annabeth, who can run the fastest, gets there first. She grabbed the boy's arm and yanked him through the gates. "LEO! SHUT THE GATES!" She screamed.

"GOT IT!" Leo screamed back, and the gates shudder and freeze before heading back towards the walkers before locking in place.

Annabeth let's go of the boys arm and hands him over to Hazel, who kneels down in front of him. He's crying violently. "M-My m-m-mom!" He cried, looking back at the gates. His mom, whom I'm assuming is the newer walker, it trying to reach through the gates, the other zombies pressing her against the gate fence as they all try to reach through to grab us.

"Shh, it's okay," Hazel whispered, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"B-But... M-My m-mom!" He wailed mournfully.

"It's not her anymore." Hazel told him softly. "That's not your mom. Come on, let's get you cleaned up okay?"

He sniffled, looking back at what used to be his mom one last time. "I love you mommy..." He whispered. He then looked back at Hazel and nodded. Hazel smiled and took the boys hand. Leo was right, he didn't even look like a teenager yet, in fact, he didn't look any older than ten. His raven black hair was caked with dirt and mud. The whites of his eyes were yellow and bloodshot, the iris an unnatural bright green color. Tears streamed down his face, and blood covered him from head to toe. We all walked back towards our home and Leo's head popped out from the base level. "Yo, kiddo, you alright?" he asked, joining our side as we walked towards the old, wooden stairs.