Just US

You Promise?

"Don't worry", I whispered in a tone so quite you could barely hear, "I'll be alright, just please promise me, you'll stay inside". Evelyn nodded ever so slowly, with a glum look on her face. "Ev, I promise I'll be alright, I know what I'm doing, it'll be okay" I forced a smile. A small tear slipped down her cheek, and I immediately pulled my sleeve up to my thumb to wipe her face. "Hey hey, look at me", her face slowly rise up to mine "I promise, okay?". At the sight of her slight nod, I rushed off towards the door, swiftly pulling my jacket over my shoulders and swinging my bag onto my back. As my hand reached out to open the door, I heard Evelyn's little voice quietly call out "Althea wait!" I turned around to see what she needed. "What's your hurry? Can't you just stay here a little longer?" Her sweet voice and gentle eyes made it truly hard to ignore her. "Ev, I'm sorry, but you see the cupboards; empty. And maybe even while I'm out I'll find some other survivors, they can help us". The sides of her mouth drooped at my response, "please, I like being here with just you, your my sister, I don't need anyone else, just you, just us". I wiped her face once again as another tear fell.

"I'm sorry, I know, but I'll be fast alright, I'll be back before you know it" I said with fake cheerfulness in my voice. Evelyn looked defeated, and nodded in knowing that no matter what she would say, I would still go. "Just remember not to get to close to the zombies, no matter what okay?" she orders me, "and if you do find other survivors out there, please try not to get too attached to them or anything, in case you know, they die? Or if you betray you, we can only really trust each other, that's what you said". I gave her one last final smile and nodded, before carefully creeping out the door. The air was crisp on my cheeks, and with every exhale you could slightly see the air of my breath. Find food, find water, people, animals, anything I thought to myself, then get back home, Evelyn needs you. I walked cautiously around the back of the house, into the unfenced yard. Behind our house was a nice big forest, there was a good possibility that I could find some survivors, or flicks. If we needed to, we could easily get lost in there, the trees were everywhere and stretched all the way up to the sky.

In my bag I had a few hunting tools like knives, some survival tools just in case I came in contact with any flicks, and lastly a tiny supply of food and water. I had a small, stale loaf of bread and a single bottle of water. Evelyn was only 7, and still loosing her baby teeth, so it was pretty difficult for her to eat hard things, so I figured I'd take the bread with me. Hopefully I could find some animal, I'm sure us both were pretty tired of living off of bread and plants.

Trying to walk quietly in a forest is hard, trust me. Ever step I took there were at least ten twigs cracking under my feet. Oh just shut up! I thought. Walking slower wouldn't help either, they would just crack slower. Flicks are attracted to sound, they can see you too, but even the slightest of sounds can trigger their attention.

Whenever I was out, which was rare, I was extra careful. I didn't really care about my own life, but Evelyn needed me. She was too young to take care of herself, and when all of this stupid flick stuff started happening, it took our parents, we only had each other now.

Minutes of searching turned into hours. Hours upon hours I searched, for something, anything. Nothing. Why couldn't I find something as simple as a rabbit or a bird even? Even I was starting to get hungry, a rare thing, I'm pretty used to it, so you know it's bad when even I'm hungry. What felt like a few good hours ago I had already finished the bread, and only a fraction of the water remained. I had left what we still had of food and water at home, so hopefully Evelyn was doing alright. Evelyn I thought with dread. Oh no no no! I promised her I'd be back quickly, no no no! She was probably worried by now, hell she was worried before I left!

I needed to get back now. It would look pretty bad coming back hours later empty handed but that wasn't the most pressing concern right now. The only thing I was worried with was making sure my sister was okay. I'm sure she's fine I thought to ease myself. It was getting dark already, how long have I been out? It hadn't felt like too long, not a full day at least, but I had left nice and early in the morning. Oh my god, she spend a full day by herself, what if she thinks I'm dead? What if she's dead? I can't believe I did this to her. My heart was racing partially because of how fast I was aimlessly running through the woods and partially because of how scared for her I was.

If it was me at seven I'd be fine, but Evelyn too soft, and not a fighter. She wouldn't hurt a flea if it came down to it or her. The farther I ran the darker it got, it was getting hard to see. I had no idea where I was anymore, I had gotten so lost in my thoughts I started to get lost out here. "No, Evelyn" I breathed. If I couldn't get back to her I had no way of knowing if she was okay. These trees went on forever, the chance of me making it out of them was extremely slim, I could spend the short rest of my life laying out here, great.

I couldn't bear to think about poor little Evelyn at home all by herself. In my head I pictured this innocent little girl, crying, hiding in a corner, staring at the door, waiting for me to come back. No no no, I can't believe it, how could I get lost out here, how could I! I felt awful, I broke my promise. I had said I'd be back quick, I promised her. How could I, I never broke my promises, but here we are, and there she is. I sat down in defeat and lay my head on a large rock behind me, and I cried.