Chapter 9 - Heartbeat

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Jack's heart was beating as he ran through the back alley, nimbly dodging the hands of the dead reaching for him. He could hear the screams and shouts behind him as he ran. He couldn't do anything to save those people. He had no weapons and him staying would just mean his death. He would be more useful to people alive. He made it to an abandoned grocery store and finally stopped to catch his breath. He looked around but couldn't see any forms of life. He decided he was going to get a vantage point to see if he could regroup with some survivors if there were any. 

He was a gymnast before the apocalypse so he scaled the building with much ease. Now that he could see more, he looked for any signs of life. At first, there was nothing but soon he saw movement in a house. It wasn't slow like a creeper, but it was careful. Then he saw her climbing out of the window. This woman didn't seem like she was new to scavenging as she had a semi-full duffel bag of various supplies probably. 

He wasn't sure if he could trust her but he had no choice. He tried getting her attention by waving his arms but she was focused on not being caught so he had to go to her. He climbed down the building and looked for something to defend himself with just in case she was aggressive. 

After searching for a minute, he found an old, wooden baseball bat. It would have to do for now. He started heading in the direction that she was in. He kept his wits about him as he slowly progressed to where he saw the woman. 

He arrived at the house but couldn't find the woman. He dropped his defenses for a moment and it was a mistake. He heard a groaning behind him and he turned around just in time to avoid being bit. He swung the baseball bat at the zombie and it immediately broke. The zombie flew to the ground but wasn't finished off just yet, as it started getting up again. 

Jack desperately looked around for something to defend himself with. All he had was the broken shaft of the bat. And just like that, the zombie was on him again. He shoved the broken bat into the zombie's mouth and tried pushing it back. Soon it started to overpower him. Jack soon fell to the ground, still holding the zombie back. He tried kicking it and holding it back with his feet. 

He closed his eyes, preparing himself for when the zombie won. But suddenly the weight was lifted and a crunch sounded. Jack opened his eyes to see the woman standing there, sledgehammer in the zed's head. He widened his eyes and looked up at her. She wiped the blood from her face and removed the sledge from the imploded skull. 

She made eye contact with him and smirked, "Hey. The name is Anastasia." 

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