Z

To Kill A Roamer

    A loud bang brought the moment to an end and we were forced to face reality again. It came from outside, instantly my eyes moved in the direction where the noise came from. Almost instantly after, my companions did the same. Cade quickly raised her shotgun to the door at an angel. Cade's mom is a hunter and Cade has gone with her on many trips so, I would think that she is good with guns.

    The rest of us each guarded a window hesitantly. I switched the safety mode off. Can I let you in on a little secret? I don't know how to shoot a gun. It never crossed my mind in my youth that I would probably need to know how to shoot a gun, if I knew that this would happen, this brain-dead cannibal stuff, I wouldn't have hesitated on learning how to shoot one of these death wishes.

    Alec seemed determined, he had an evil smile on his face that made me feel uneasy. Meanwhile, Oliver seemed extremely focused and calm. Maybe he would have been a superior leader . . . I shook my head disapproving my thoughts. We have more important things to think about right now. I aimed my gun shakily out the window, eyeing the medium-sized mob of brain-dead. They were getting closer, slowly but surely.

    I heard a bang at my window and I froze, not knowing what to do. I lifted my gun so that my arm depicted a ninety-degree angle. I held one of my arms up, signaling everyone to be quiet. The noises continued outside my window, I slowly looked out the window, hoping that an animal was just making ruckus outside. I hoped wrong. A human was getting mauled by someone . . . let me rephrase that, by something. I felt bile rise and enter my throat slowly.

    I walked towards the door quickly without making a sound. The good thing about being shorter and smaller than everyone in this room (not much shorter than Cade) is that I can walk around and run as fast as I can and make pretty much no noise. I opened the door and that caused it to squeak quietly. Cade looked at me like I had six heads. "What the hell are you doing?!" Cade whispered loudly. I ignored the heinous way she spoke to me and I continued walking outside quickly.

    Soon, I was right behind the mauler and the maulee. It was truly, a gruesome, wicked sight. Blood everywhere along with a few intestines here and there. You're probably wondering, "How the freaking heck are you so calm and collected about this?! You said 'A few intestines here and there' so casually!" Well, my mom is a doctor and I have seen way worse than this sissy crap. The mauler turned her head slowly, revealing a huge gash of skin missing from her cheek.

    I winced a bit at the sight. The brain-dead got up from the ground and limped towards me slowly. It looked like she couldn't see, as if she was roaming. Roamers . . . that's a good name for them. She lunged towards me and she missed by an inch which made me sober. I wasn't drunk or anything, I just felt like I was being inconsiderate about the situation. The girl lashed out at me again and this time, she knocked me onto the ground.

    I felt the adrenalin rush through my veins quickly. The Roamer was grabbing my shoulders tightly. She growled and moaned as I tried to push her off. In the middle of her temper tantrum, she drooled a bit on me and the odd colored, blackish-red saliva landed smack dab on my cheek. I felt like I needed to gag. The smell of the Roamer alone was utterly disgusting but the smell of the saliva was ten times worse.

    She chomped at the air as if she could magically reach me if she clicked her heels three times and really, really wished for it. Cade peeked her head out the door and she locked eyes with me. I gave her a small reassuring smile which probably didn't mix well with my tense, struggling body. Cade cursed and disappeared back into the emporium. Without even having control over anything, I soon found myself squeezing the trigger of my gun tightly.

    The gun was under her chin, so the impact of the blow made her head jerk back and her body go still. I winced as rotten blood splash across my face. I moved the limp body off of me and stood up, brushing the dry dirt off my pants and shirt. I heard something move behind me. I swung around and in a swift motion, I pulled the trigger again. I shot the maulee, and I shot him right between his pale eyes. Don't worry, I didn't kill a human, he looked like one of them and definitely smelled like one of them.

    I turned around to see three sets of eyes and one mouth hung open wide. "Y-You know how to shoot?!" Cade started. Before I could even say anything, she interrupted. "You said you never wanted to go hunting with me because you didn't know how to shoot, you liar!" Cade said bitter-sweetly. "I don't . . ." I trailed off. "That's not true, I can't believe I'm saying this but, I think you shoot better than me," Alec said crossing his arms. Cade nodded agreeing with him.

    "Way better than me too, someone as good as you would have needed at least a whole lives worth of practice," Cade said hesitantly. "Did you see that?! She just turned around and pulled the trigger at the same time and look where she hit him!" Alec started as he walked up to the male that got mauled. "She fucked him up!" Alec laughed. I handed everyone a water bottle that I retrieved from our classroom and I took large gulps of water trying to calm myself down.

    We all took another break and sat down on the curb. Well, I was the only one that sat on the curb, my companions were too hyper. After a while, Oliver came and sat next to me. "You are really strong . . . we made the right decision choosing you as our leader." He said softly without looking at me. I took a glance at him and looked away quickly. I just noticed how his warm eyes complimented his hair. His hazel eyes and his dark hair also complimented the little dark sprinkle of freckles across his cheeks and nose.

    I felt my face grow hot and I looked away so that he couldn't see the redness of my cheeks. "T-Thanks." I stuttered unintentionally. I looked at him because I didn't want to seem rude. He smiled "Don't thank me, I'm the one who should be thanking you." He smiled again, causing my face to grow redder. I smiled back at him and shot up from the ground, grabbing my bag. "We should start heading towards the corner store," I announced to the group.

    Everyone nodded and followed me as I crossed the street to the damaged and awful looking store. People have definitely been in here. I held my breath as we walked into the raided store. Glass was spread across the floor. "Careful," I warned my group. They nodded. The windows were bashed in and the cash register was on the ground. I winced as I heard the crunching of glass under my feet. I looked around and sighed. Nobody was here and it seemed safe. I looked at my companions and nodded, signaling them to grab what they could.

A/N : Hey guys, its Promise! Thank you so much for reading my book, I cannot express how grateful I am for your support! I just wanted to thank you guys for giving my story a chance. I hope you are enjoying the novel! Tell me what you guys think about Harrah's little crush on Oliver in the comment section! Thanks again, love you guys!!!

- Promise