Survivor Read online

  I was getting more and more frustrated at myself. I'm not going to have second chances out there I told myself. My uncle headed over to me. He had been watching me the whole time.

  "Be prepared for everything." He took my hand and held it tight in comfort. I nodded and ran back to the start. I got this. I got this.

  I heard the blow of the horn and ran. My hands felt shaky as I continued up the ladder. I saw that two "walkers" we're shuffling below. I planned out that I would jump down and skip to the left and right to avoid first zombie, jump on the trash can and hop over the zombie and run to the next obstacle. All this planning was thought of in a flash. I performed it and avoided the zombies easily.

  I jumped over the two trash cans, avoided the crawler by stepping on its back, and finished the last trash can. I was able to "escape" in less than a minute. I was ready to go out.

  I headed out with a backpack full of necessary items - flashlight, some rope, matches, water, map, some food (in case I get held up), compass, pocket knife, and a silenced gun- towards the pharmacy. I was hoping to find James held up there but I didn't want to get my hopes too high. It was about 7 o'clock and there was still some light outside. I stayed in the shadows along the old supermarket. The place had already been ransacked months ago; The windows were cracked open and I could see the shelves cleared out. The floor was covered in stains and random body parts. I almost gagged. No use stopping there. My legs itched like crazy since the long grass was almost to my knees. I remember seeing the grass only 5 inches tall. Now it's 3 feet tall. I tried to ignore it. As i was a little under a mile out, I saw my first walker. He was shuffling with his limp leg towards the opposite way from me. He had lost all his hair and assuming by his clothing, he worked at a grocery store. His pant leg was ripped and you could see his bone. The flesh must've been cut off I assumed. I moved forward silently. The building cut off and I had no choice but to dash across the open street. I was hesitant. I checked my surroundings. I small group of them were feasting on something; I couldn't tell what.

  They are distracted. I could get across without them knowing. I ran across while slightly crouched. Luckily they didn't notice me. I subsided my guard only to run over a walker feasting on a squirrel in the alley. It was dark so I couldn't see it. I tripped over and backed away immediately. My heart raced and I could hear my heartbeat in my ear. I flipped out my taunting pocket knife, got to my feet and waited. My legs still shaky. It has lost its legs, probably eaten off, so it was crawling at a turtle's speed. I waited till it was in range and lunged my knife at it. I could feel its raspy hair on my hand, i squealed in disgust. Its head fell to the ground and it was dead. I put my foot on its head to pull out the knife, which was stuck. I wiped it off with the guy’s shirt.

  I was safe for now so I checked its pockets. Nothing useful came of it but I found his old, ripped wallet. His name used to be Brian Suldan. I'm sorry Brian I said silently to myself. The wallet contained a picture of his family, his baby. I sighed. What has this come to. Six months ago, he would've been home taking care of his child, feeding it cereal while his wife kissed him goodbye for work. Now he is out here, legs completely eaten off and eating lunch off of a squirrel.

  I had to continue. I decided to keep the wallet and progressed onward. I climbed the rusted ladder so I could travel on higher grounds. Much safer. Jumping from roof to roof, I got to see how the city was from a different perspective. Many buildings were on fire. A dark cloud surrounded the bottom of all the buildings on fire. I realized the cloud was hundreds of the walkers. I guess they were attracted to heat or light. That will come in handy. The sky turned an ashy gray. I saw the freeway off in the distance, car were crashed into rubbish, semis over turned, gasoline spilled everywhere. My mind flashed back to when I was returning home and traveling down that same freeway. I imagined the bright blue skies with a dash of clouds, the laughter of my parents as they talked about the movie we just watched, and how my brother was glued to his game. I remembered seeing the cars with some people dancing to music in the traffic, or some people talking on their iPhone 8. I remembered looking down to Clementine Park and seeing the young children play on the red and blue playground. My mind came back into reality and spit in disgust to the gray, rotten city. I had to move on. I spotted the pharmacy a few buildings down. I traveled towards it.

  On the roof, I looked down seeing hundreds and hundreds of them pounding on the door and the glass was slowly breaking. The walkers’ moans were so loud that it echoed in my ear causing an instant headache. The scratching from their abnormal nails on the glass was a torturing sound to my ears. I cursed under my breath.

  Chapter 4

  I didn't know what to do. I spotted a vent and removed the bolts with my knife, slashing at them until they broke. I removed the remains and inspected inside with my flashlight. I saw James hustling around. He looked like he was limping. I called his name. He looked up with a very puzzled face. I lowered my rope and he attempted to climb. The first time he fell to the ground and yelled in pain. I encouraged him to try again. I grabbed his wanting hand and brought him up.

  He was crying. His leg had been cut badly by a piece of glass that ricocheted off the window.

  "It's not infected, if that's what you were wondering. I got antibiotics. I was in the right place to be held up." His face seemed in pain. I felt bad for him. I gave him a hug. He wouldn't let go of me. He eventually choked out a thank you.

  "Come on," I said grabbing his hand, "We got to go. It’s not safe here." He followed me across the taunting roofs. I held up half of his weight the whole time. I got out my gun. I couldn't take a risk when we went down there. I was first down the ladder. I watched for any walkers to sneak up on us. I motioned him to stay and checked the street I had crossed before. The walkers were gone and it was dark now. I took a little more insight on my surroundings. There were about four corpses lying motionless in the cars. Cautiously, I called him over and we crept across the torn up street. I heard a moan in the distance.

  "Come on, faster." I whispered. We traveled along the side of the wall like before. The wall reminded me of school. It was covered in graffiti and gum and rust infested. We were almost there when we saw it. It was a girl walker. She was in a used-to-be-white wedding dress. Blood stains were visible on her dress and her lower lip was torn into two. I raised my gun and closed in on her. Her scratched up back was facing me and I shot. Straight in the head. Boy was I glad this gun was silenced. We avoided any other walkers. We climbed up a tree that was in between the acid wall so we wouldn't get burned. I jumped down and he followed. The guns had already been turned off.

  The gate opened and everyone outside cheered. James had returned. I took him to the nurse and he got checked up. As I was waiting, my uncle came over and sat next to me.

  "Good job sweetie, I'm proud of you," he said while patting my thigh, "Where was he and what happened?"

  "He was held up in the pharmacy. He told me those things had been attempting to get through the door for days, hundreds of them. One walker broke the window but it was too small for him to fit through. One piece of glass flew and hit him straight in the leg. I got him out through the vent and we were able to escape unnoticed. I ran into two zombies; both are dead now. I didn't have any close calls though." He looked proud of me. That was the first time I felt good about something I did.

  James came out an hour later walking normally. He gave me the biggest hug ever. I think he might like me....and I might like him.

  "You okay James," I said while looking in his eyes.

  "I have never been so glad to see you," he managed a romantic smile, "I will be fine soon. Don't worry about me. How are you? I know you don't like going outside the walls."

  "I trained for this. I was prepared. Don't worry about me," I said sarcastically. I winked at him. He winked back.

  "I got to go back to my famil..." He stopped, knowing what happened to mine, and I looked down. He raised my chin with his finger, "I am sorry Sophia
." He walked away. I headed home.

  Lying in bed that night, I thought of him. Do I like him? I don't know. Maybe. I know he liked me. My friend told me he does. He seemed so romantic. He said sorry to me just for saying family. How sweet is that? Tomorrow, I will hang out with him and see what this becomes of us. Friends or more......more.......more

  I drifted off to sleep.