Never Die Alone

Chapter 3: Tourniquet

Megan looked over the stressed faces of her friends. Jacob's jaw was set and he looked determined. She assumed he was set on keeping everyone alive. Her stomach twisted.

'Fifteen year old kids shouldn't be afraid for their lives... It's just not right.' Megan thought.

On the corner of Thomas and Halliwell, Megan turned left and then continued walking down the road.

Cam had a tear running down her cheek but she wiped it away quickly. Her own parents and little sister were in Mexico for a trip her sister had won. They had only won three tickets so naturally, they left Cam behind. Mexico was a very populated so if the disease broke out there too, it would be more than a little dangerous. She wanted to mention it to the group, but knew that if she did, she would just break out in tears and she wouldn't be able to talk. In a time like this, she needed to stay strong.

Cameron felt Megan's hand on her shoulder. "It'll be okay." Megan said, but her voice sounded uncertain.

"Guys," Sanne said, "We need to get off the road. We should go through the woods or something. This is not a safe place to be."

The rest of the group agreed. Megan looked uncertain, "I don't know... What if we get lost?"

"I have a good sense of direction." Jacob said. "We'll be fine."

To the right, there was a clearing where a house was under construction. Behind it was an area with nothing but woods.

"Let's go there then." Sanne said pointing towards the trees.

They walked across the muddy clearing and they shook when two screams sounded from a property nearby.

Everyone's breathing was shallow and panicked. The scream repeated and even though there was no immediate danger, they broke into a run.

The woods here were full of thick underbrush. Hemlock trees loomed up around them casting shadows everywhere.

"Guys..." Quinn said quietly, "I'm scared."

"Same." Cam said back.

Megan took a deep shaky breath. She wanted to reassure them somehow that it would all be okay in the end, but in all honesty, she wasn't sure if it would be.

As they struggled through the underbrush, they heard something behind them. Megan turned and saw a Caro Mortua zombie shuffling towards them. Its hair was long and blonde and tangled and she was wearing a dress. At one point in time it had been a girl who was about twenty years old. The veins in its face were blue and bulging out. It was making motions as though it was gasping for air. It seemed to be following the noise they were making. By instinct, Megan screamed and started to run away from the zombie.

Jacob turned around. He was still holding the axe he had found in the tool shed at Emma's house.

He raised his hand holding the axe, and in one fluid movement, he slammed the axe into the zombie's neck. The zombie was thrown sideways and its neck was twisted, almost severed. Discoloured velvet blood trickled into the moss. The zombie was still moving, crawling towards them. Its neck was bent and its eyes were lolling in its head.

Jacob rose the axe again and brought it down in the center of the zombie's skull. The zombie lay motionless at Jacob's feet. He was trembling. He tried to pull the axe out of the zombies skull, but it was stuck. As he focused on getting his axe out of the skull, another zombie came from the same place as the first had come from. This one was a male. Megan choked as she realised that it was probably the husband or boyfriend of the first zombie.