Running for Their Lives

The First Step

First part of my first story. (I promise, it gets better xD) I hope you all enjoy:)

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I miss so many things from before we always had to run and hide. I miss being reckless...not having to always be looking over my shoulder. I miss not having so much responsibility weighing me down. I miss being with my friends...My old friends, that is. But there's just almost no time to miss things anymore. There's barely even time to miss people. Sometimes I wonder, what's the point of thinking about it anyway? They're gone. Being able to go through the day without running. Worrying. The people I've lost. All gone. There's barely time to waste thinking. Every now and again there's moments like this...a little bit of time to think. To miss. To remember. And God, I sure do remember...I still remember the yelling...All the screaming...Like it happened not even a week ago...I can still hear

the glass shattering.

April 05, 2013

'*CRASH!*'

The very first thing I hear.

"Well what else can we do, Liza?!" my dad yells, from the other room, making me sit straight up from a sound sleep. "You see what's happening! We can't just do NOTHING! We need to GO!", he says, as his yelling continues.

'Go?' I think.

I take my time getting up and out of bed, and I shuffle sleepily out into the living room. I scan the room and notice broken glass on the floor, and Liza, my step mom, bawling her eyes out and having trouble breathing. Damon, my step brother, on the floor, clenching his hair. My dad's hand is bleeding, probably because he's most likely the one who shattered whatever that glass was from, and he's now walking about the room shouting and cursing.

My dad sees me standing there and he just continues ranting.

"Liza, we need to go and we need to go NOW!," he shouts.

"Where?" I asked.

"Out of Bourbon" he answers, trying to get to a calmer tone. He then turns to the TV. It shows the view from a helicopter above our city...It's complete chaos. Even from the air..It's insane.

"What's happening?" I ask, my heart starting to race.

I see his anger returning and he turns away from me.

"Ron..." says Liza, using all her strength just to speak. He doesn't move. "You have to tell her SOMETHING,"

He still doesn't turn around.

I look at my step mom, hoping she'll just tell me.

She slowly starts to finds her voice, and there's no way I could have prepared myself for the words I was about to hear. Trying to keep herself from sobbing again, she answers, "The dead are..alive...or uhm...returning to life..." Tears fill her eyes again.

I let out a laugh. "Haha. Very funny. I'm not an idiot, what kind of story is that?"

She looks away from me and shakes her head.

I start feeling dizzy. "That's not funny, Liza. Now someone tell me what's going on. I mean it," I say quietly.

"God, just shut it, Chandler. Who would come up with a joke like that?! You asked what happened, she's telling you!" Damon shouts.

She starts to cry again, and says "Chandler, I know it sounds crazy, but I promise you I wouldn't joke about this. The dead are alive, or...something. I don't know, but I DO know that you're father's right and we need to evacuate the city as soon as we can. They're..apparently..cannibals. Mindless."

Leave Bourbon? Who would do that when they're making it sound like we're never coming back? I refuse and I'm appalled that they're even suggesting this. "I'm not going anywhere..." I say, crossing my arms.

Damon chuckles, and my dad glares at me, the anger in his eyes burning into my very soul. "Chandler, I need to protect you, and I can't do that here. I don't know exactly what's happening, but that doesn't mean we can ignore it," he says through his teeth.

"Or you can stay here and be eaten," says Damon.

"Oh, knock it off Damon! This is serious!" says Liza.

I feel my heartbeat speed up dramatically, and I don't even know what to think. Why's this happening, if it's true? I feel sick and I sink to the floor, not even able to cry, from the shock of what I'm hearing. My dad comes to my side and tries to comfort me.

"Liza, go pack a few things of Chandler's. Damon, get food a little bit of food just in case. Now. Go. I'll come to help in a minute. Just be quick," he said, going back to comforting me.

I feel like I've forgotten how to speak. I just sit there in silence, a million thoughts racing through my head.

"Chandler, don't worry about all this. I promise, I will protect you until this is all over. You'll be fine."

I finally make myself stand up and my dad gets up to go help Liza. I go through my bag that she had packed for me. "What the heck is going on..." I whisper to myself.

Only a few minutes later, Liza, my dad and Damon come in carrying 3 duffel bags.  "Alright. Let's not just stand around," he says walking toward the door. I slowly stand up and grab my bag, but I don't take a step.

"Chandler, please. This who thing is all gonna be fixed soon enough. We just need to get out of here now...Until it's safe again," my dad says.

I slowly step toward to door. "Okay," I say reluctantly.

He turns the knob, and opens the front door...Then we take our first step. Our first step out of my home. Our first step out of the normal...and into the city of the dead.