Meet Me

Chapter 17 - Let Me Live

Kate

"You stopped caring, so I stopped trying." - Unknown

Ash and I sat in silence for a while, not knowing what to say to each other. It wasn’t awkward, or frustrating. It was great to actually have some quiet! I hadn’t had that in forever. I took quiet for granted. I shouldn’t do, but I do. Quiet didn’t last for long…

Quickly, the door crashed open. I jumped up, and so did Ash. Owen and Katherine awoke from their slumber and were on their feet in no time. Owen backed me up, whereas Katherine backed away. She turned to Ash, helpless. He pushed her behind him and took his gun out of his back pocket. I reflected his action. Owen didn’t know what to do. He was a block of ice, defenceless and easily smashed with the right amount of force. I shoved him out the way, and shot the zombie once in the head. It collapsed and clawed at the floor for a few seconds, before it seized and grunted as a last sound.

“There might be more.” Ash told me. I nodded. There was never just one zombie. Groups were very popular in their neighbourhood, as they were in ours. A minute later, just after Katherine and Owen had recollected themselves, we heard a cacophony of grunts, moans and groans. Glancing through the doorway, revealed our worst nightmare. Surrounded, we were surrounded. I saw the panic on Ashes face. There must have been some kind of emotion on my face, because he gave me the same look I gave him.

“Shoot.” I simply said with a shaky voice. Ash did so. Repeatedly, he shot again and again. He didn’t look out the doorway as if they were medusa and would turn him to stone. I watched him shoot. Determination covered his face.  I didn’t know if this was the end for me and Owen I knew we were going to have to really fight for our lives. Now that it wasn’t just Owen and I, we did have a chance. We would live. We had gotten his far, we were going to carry on! We weren’t wounded soldiers! We were strong. We were amazing. We were alive! We weren't going to die anytime soon. I wasn't hopeless and, most importantly, I wasn't dead!

Owen yelled something from the other side of the cabin, but I only imprecisely heard it. He was panicking. “They’re all over! They’re all around!” He whimpered. I felt the need to roll my eyes, but held back. Now wasn’t the time to be sarcastic. 

I remembered the anger I had felt when Luisa had died. I remembered the blood I had wanted to shed. That was enough to create havoc. Ash and I shot bullets out the doorway at any angle, at anything. For all we knew, we could be shooting nothing. When we had the courage to look again, we saw that we hadn’t taken down even one tenth of the herd.

They were slouching towards us at a snail’s pace. They were death and his realm. Ash looked at me with a little defeat in his eyes. Looking back at Owen and Katherine, I held my fire. They were shaking, visibly. We had to get them out of here. Now he wasn’t on his own, Owen had become weak again.  I hated that. He could be helping us right now, but because he is too shy, too kind, he won’t. I think of him as a wounded deer, Katherine a wounded gazelle. As good as dead.

With that thought in mind, wounded deer’s and gazelles could escape. If they were helped. Ash and I could save them. Otherwise, they were about as good as a piece of meat in a zoo.

“Kate! We are going to have to go out!” Ash yelled urgently. So, we put our lives at risk. Slamming the door shut, we stood outside in the cold. It bit at my fingers and pricked me like a needle. I shivered, but ignored it. Nobody would miss me if I caught pneumonia and died. I hope they wouldn’t, anyway. Nobody should feel sorry for me.

The cold was deaths touch, waiting for you to run away and towards the warm hug of heat. Ash didn’t seem affected by the weather. He was too busy aiming, then shooting. I carried on doing that too. “You stay here! I am going round!” He bellowed. I would not take orders from him. I shook my head and concentrated on shooting an oncoming zombie. It fell to the floor with a satisfying thump. I did the same to a couple others. Blood spewed from their wounds and then they collapsed. Dead this time. Dead like my feelings and soul.