Locked Away [10k Z Nation]

2

That scared little girl two years ago? That's me. I'm Cody and I'm 17 years old. I'm a normal teenage girl, not a jock, not a geek. Just Cody. And this is my story.

Nah, I'm just fucking with you, this isn't some introduction to a teenager love story about some quirky girl who loves Doctor Who (although I really did, pre apocalypse) and enjoys cuddling with her equally quirky boyfriend while they watch Star Wars together. (Although I did that too) Maybe I'm not as tough and original as I thought.

Ah, now I remember I've been riding out the zombie apocalypse in a freaking treehouse for the past two years... I feel better about myself.

Anyways, where to start? My dad left me up here when I was 15, promising to be back with my sister, but after he didn't come back I realized that wasn't gonna happen. Seeing that I didn't have any weapons, I couldn't really leave this little safe house I have here, so long story short I've been living in a freaking treehouse for the last two years.

It's not so bad actually, I have a little garden that I use to grow my own food. My Dad had provided a long and flat container of soil and a few different bags of seeds. I collect rainwater and really, I've always had a shit ton of water anyways, since I'm pretty sure my dad robbed the town water tower to keep me alive, so I've been pretty well taken care of.
But the thing is, lately I've been running low, I was almost out about six months ago... But luckily a huge storm hit and my chances of survival went up significantly. (Collecting the rainwater itself, helped. I mean, the actual storm itself almost killed me. Fun times.)

But my garden has been producing less and less each month, and my canned food supply is down to about 10 cans and I've got about two jugs of water left. I need to get more, but I've seen those things that roam around and trust me, no thank you.

If I keep quiet, they stay away, I learned that the hard way, trust me. When I realized about a week up here that my dad wasn't coming back, I broke. I sobbed and sobbed. I cursed everything and everyone, and apparently wasn't as quiet as I thought... I drew quite a few and I'll never forget it.

"Damn it! Dad! Where are you! Daddy?! I miss you!" I dry heaved and clutched my sides as I fell against the wall. I was choking on my own tears it seemed. I felt disgusting but I couldn't stop.

"Daddy! I'm scared! Help me please, I can't do this alone..." I cried until i heard a faint sound from below.

"Dad?" I peered down, my hair falling around my clammy face like a stringy, frizzy curtain. The thing at the base of my tree was not my beloved father. It's eyes were glazed over and it was bleeding from its mouth and nose. It took a second to simply look at me, then cocked its head back, and slammed it against the tree. It pulled its face back from the bark and I saw its nose was significantly broken and it's face scratched and bleeding. I scrambled back, thinking if I could hide from it, it would leave me alone.

I was left alone with my horrifying thoughts on the man that was just feet below me. I peeked back over to see that six more had joined him.

"Crap," I muttered, bringing my fingers to my temples. This was bad. Really bad. I huddled into the corner and put my head between my knees, trying to breathe and think. I could throw something down and hoped they followed the noise... But I didn't have anything up here that I didn't depend on. I peeked down once more and saw that there were at least twenty more down there. Collectivly they rammed themselves against the tree. They were piling on top of eachother it seemed. Their bodies writhing, the only thing on their mind was to get to me. I decided it would be best not to look again. I felt their moans echo through my body and it drove me to tears.

"Please God, help me get through this. I'll be quiet from now on if you just get me through this...please Lord," I silently prayed, weeping. I wiped my eyes and laid down on the sandy treehouse floor and awaited my fate.

Later I heard a car fly down the road next to my backyard gate, stirring up all the falling leaves and debris behind it. I held my breath, waiting.

I looked out a hole in between two planks of wood in the wall and saw the steady stream of zombies make their way out of the yard and amble down the road. I waited a few minutes, grabbed a small piece of rope that had been left in the corner.

I darted down the steps nailed to the trunk and sprinted to the gate that separated my backyard from the blood thirsty things that could kill me at any moment. I shut the gate as quickly and quietly as I could, and tied the rope around the latch for good measure. As long as I was quiet, I was safe.

Now that statement didn't seem so true. I didn't have much food or water left. My dad had taken the only car with him when he left and I was utterly stuck.