||Your Average Zombie Book||

Chapter 1

   My eyebrows furrow as I think about where we should go. Thali is busy making sure the area we are walking in inside these woods are safe.
  
   It would be really convenient for one of those weird old cabins to pop up out of nowhere. I think to myself as I huff in frustration.

   "Hey, Juniper. Would you happen to remember that really old hideout we had out here when we were younger?" My sister says scratching her head in confusion. My eyes light up.

   "You mean the one that we planned all our pranks on Dad at? Duh! How could I forget!" I say chuckling despite the weight of the situation we are in. She smirks.

   "Lead the way, sister." She says softly. I give a faint smile and turn a bit to our left and begin sprinting at a slow-ish pace. The ground was beginning to get more rugged and littered with roots and vines. I push past a few low hanging branches and stumble over a tree root glancing behind me to make sure she's following.

   As we go on in the area I begin slowing down. It takes a few long, quiet minutes until we get close to our hideouts location.

"Hngh"

   Did I just hear something? I turn to Thali. "Did you make that noise?" I say in a hushed whisper. She shakes her head no, and puts a finger to her lips signaling me to keep it down. She reaches behind her and pulls her nailed bat from her bag and gets into a fighting stance.

   I gulp and try looking ahead as much as possible. I see the roof of the hideout, made of a large, slightly torn, dark blue tarp. It was hoisted up by nails in trees and sticks.

   I hear a grunt and my breath hitches. I go wide eyed and get worried. I don't have my own weapon oh my gosh am I going to die? Don't let me die, please. Not yet! I say beginning to panic a little bit.

   Thali takes a few steps forward and I follow. We peek through the trees quietly and see our destination. It had several small tables scattered with food and canteens that we did not leave there. It was worn down due to the years of neglect, but the blue tarp looks worn down to a point it needs replacement. However the thing that grabbed my attention the most was the person I saw sitting in our old seat, tending to a wound.

   Phoenix? I think as I cover my mouth. My eyes grow wide as I go to stand, only to have Thali pull me back down.

   "What are you doing? That's Phoenix!" I whisper to her in an annoyed voice. She sneers and whispers back.

"He could be infected. Do you see that wound he's cleaning?"

I huff. "If he were infected he would be out looking for live food! Not human food, like he has there. Maybe he got scratched by a branch? Well either way I don't care, Thali! That's my best friend. Even if he is infected I will not just walk away after finding him here, obviously hurt." I say flicking her forehead and standing up before she could protest.

The male's head shot up and looked my way impulsively reaching for his rifle next to him, causing him to wince in pain at his wound. He had dark brown hair that got darker the closer to the roots it was. His eyes were a pale grey, and he wore a purple and blue varsity jacket, his shirt pulled up to where his injury was, right below the ribs.

"Oh my god" Thali says scattering to her feet and standing in front of me, holding her bat in defense. I just stand there, staring. Guess I kind of got ahead of myself thinking I could just say 'oh hey dude what's up' nOpe anxiety gotta hit me hard like this.

Phoenix pulls his hand away from the gun and places his hand over his bleeding stomach and groans. "Thali?" He says extremely confused and annoyed. "What are you... you guys are alive?" He says with his eyes widening. I stay quiet.

"Are you infected." My sister says quickly. Phoenix looks at her confused. She points to his wound with her bat. "Your wound, it's infected, isn't it?"

"No. I got it while running here, tripped and landed on a fallen tree." He stated, then looked back at me. "Juniper?..." I have been quiet and still the whole time.

"Phoen- Phoenix!" I say snapping out of my daze. Thali lowers her bat but still has it close by her side, on high alert. I rush to my friends side and look back at my sister. "Thali! I need the bag" she huffs but hands it over. I open it and pull out some of its items. Disinfectant and bandages. It's just a cut.

I begin to tend to his injury. I finish wrapping the bandages around him and sit up, proud of my job. He smiles and thanks me.

Thali looks up to the sky, seeing it darken. Seeing her do this, I notice it too. Getting nervous, I begin looking through the things at our hideout. I pulled out sleeping bags.

"We will take turns keeping watch. I'm sorry, Phoenix. We will have to catch up in the morning." I shove one sleeping bag to each of them. "We need to make as little noise as possible durning the night." I add on. I take deep breaths, controlling my emotions, or at least trying to. "I will take first shift." I say.

"I'll take second." Thali states, as she unfolds her bag along with Phoenix. I nod and sit down in the chair. They clear the ground of rocks and twigs before they lay down the bags. As they lay down, I begin thinking.

Wow... all of this is happening so fast. It's all so confusing. Slow down, world. Oh..why even ask. You never do. I furrow my brows angrily. They're asleep, I note. I reach for Thali's bat while still sitting, sticking my tongue out as I stretch and grab it. I lay it by my side as I get ready for anything that might come.

To be continued
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Word count:1058
Drawing above is of Thali...it's a pretty old drawing so.. I've improved since.