First Steps | A Zombie Apocalypse Story (Completed)

Day 13.2

Charlie

The sun is beginning to make its way down the sky, marking that it will be dark fairly soon. This scares me like nothing else. It takes me back to when I was a kid, being left at the store. Bobby was having a meltdown in the toy aisle, so my mom was ushering him out of the store. I was near the end of that aisle, looking at the ponies with their long, lustrous manes. Before I knew it, they were gone, out of my sight. Instead of walking to customer service like most kids would, I walked outside instead to look for her. The sun had already set, and the parking lot was dark. I couldn't find my mom anywhere. I decided to look for her car but got lost trying to find it. It felt like the shadows were clawing out for me, wanting to snatch me. She eventually found me, but ever since that happened, my fear of the dark has been heightened.

I take Mike's hand, looking for a source of comfort. He glances at me, smiling sweetly. I lean into his arm more. I'm kind of new to the whole dating thing. I mean, I've dated before, but it wasn't for someone I really, really like.

"Where are we going to go?" I whisper to the soldier, still unaware of his name.

"We're going to have to hunker down at some random home. Get used to this. It's our new reality," he says with a huff, readjusting his grip on his gun. I scrunch up my nose, feeling a tickle in it as tears well up in my eyes. Is this the new normal?

I can't help but think about the worst possible situation with everything happening. My mom is dead, Mike's parents are dead, Ms.Linda is dead. I'm sure there are countless others dead as well. My grandparents, my cousins, my friends. My tears spill from my eyes, causing Mike to come to a halt, followed by the others.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Mike says, facing me and grabbing my arms. I look down at the grassy ground of the dark woods nearby Powhite Parkway. I can't even muster up anything to say, not even a whimper. I push my head into his shoulder, not even caring about whether he smells bad or not. I'm sure we all do after being in that place for days. I never thought there'd be a day where I didn't care about my hygiene.

My body shakes in tears.

"Let's keep moving. These woods are dangerous, especially at night," the soldier says harshly without concern for my current state.

"Paxton. Let the girl cry. I can't imagine what she's going through," Clarissa chimes in, walking over to me.

"Sweetie, come here," she adds, reaching her arms out for me. I let go of Mike and walk over to her, looking up at her with lost eyes.

"I know it must have been hard to hear your mom over the phone like that, and then to see Ms.Linda like that. It hasn't been easy, I get that, but we need to find someplace safe so we can mourn who we've lost. We've gotta stay safe. No more death under my watch," she says sweetly, reaching out for a hug afterward. I nod, returning the hug only for a moment.

"Shoot! We've got a couple coming our way, be ready," Paxton whispers, pulling a knife from his waistband.

"You're going to use a knife to take one of those things?" I ask frantically, being pushed behind him. He only glances back at me with cold eyes. Clarissa readies the metal bat, causing the palms of my hands to sweat. I grimace as a loud squelch takes sound. Gooey, dark red blood pours out of the entry wound. When a crack of a skull erupts, I feel my stomach become queasy. Bile rises up my throat after I see the sunken-in skull. I rush out of the way of everyone as the food from yesterday night makes a reappearance. My hands brace onto my knees to prevent my uneasiness from making me fall.