Survival

Part 9: Valerie

Grace and I jogged lightly through the darkening forest. I was highly strung, twitching at every sound around us.

"Are we going to be in much danger?" I asked Grace.

"The town we're going to wasn't hit so bad last time I saw it, but we'll still have to be silent, quick and cautious. Can you take that out? Put it in a tree or something so you can grab it on the way back." She gestured at the decorative cuff and chain in one of my dreadlocks. In the silence it was rattling rather loudly. Feeling foolish, I took it out and hung it off a frond of a tree fern next to me, held in place by the cuff. We continued running.

I tightened the straps holding my hunting bow and quiver to my back, and the buckled leather wrapped around my legs to keep my guns and knives in place. I had a large butchers knife on my right thigh, a small but wicked blade in the back of my left boot, a gun on my left thigh and an assortment of handguns and knives hanging from my belt. They definitely weighed me down, but it was comforting more than annoying.

We scampered over a large rocky outcrop and I felt my long dreadlocks brush the stones beneath me as I bent over. I made a mental note to chop them off when I returned. Grace continued to lead me through the bush at a brisk pace, humming something that sounded a little like Bon Jovi.

A snap of a twig behind me made us both whirl around. I drew out the butchers knife with trembling fingers. Alas, there was nothing behind us.

"Could've just been a bird." I suggested.

The skin around Grace's eyes tightened, but she agreed. "Changed have no subtlety. If one of them were behind us, we'd see and hear it for sure."

We kept on going, although I kept my hand resting on the knife in it's snug sheath.

--

The forest ahead thinned out considerably, revealing the backs of some small houses. I had been to this small town before with my parents. We had been driving out to my auntie's house and needed petrol. Thankfully, the tiny town had one service station.

It was this service station that was the closest building to us currently. Grace and I crept to the brick wall and pressed our backs to it. Together we shimmied across the wall silently and peered around the corner. One Changed shuffled down the street in the opposite direction to us, only a few metres from our hiding spot. Grace motioned silently towards a flat- roofed antique store across the road. I nodded and readied myself to move. We broke free of cover and ran. I knifed the Changed before it began keening, catching the doubly dead thing before it smacked the Tarmac. Grace reached the porch of the antique store and waited for me to catch up. We pressed against the wall on either side of the door, exchanging a quick nod before Grace whipped it open silently. I dragged it shut on my way in.

The antique store was eerily quiet. The windows were boarded up and goods covered the floor. Grace and I crept through the store, weapons ready. The shelves were a maze; anything could be just around the corner and we wouldn't know. I found a large wooden chest against the wall and stood on it. One Changed, an old man, was beginning to notice us. It shuffled towards Grace, hidden by a shelf of records. I waved to catch her attention and pointed. She nodded and took out a steel baton from her belt. The Changed rounded the corner, and just as it began its keen of excitement, met the baton full in its head. Brains exploded everywhere. It was pretty awesome. Grace took a few quick steps back when it fell, and kept walking away.

"It's dead, isn't it?" I was confused by her fleeing.

"The worms can infect you through your skin. After a few seconds of leaving the host body they dissipate, though." Grace said as though I was stupid. We watched the last of the worms dissolve into the floor, leaving damp patches on the dusty boards.

Grace led the way deeper into the shop, slipping some things she found into her pockets. We didn't encounter any more Changed, and after deeming the place safe for a time, set about finding a present for Aluna.

"She'll get a kick out of this." Grace mused, picking up a stuffed bird from a tub.

"Is that real?" I began walking over.

"Yup," Grace read off the tag. "Authentic taxidermy. That's majorly cool."

I looked into the box. It was full of stuffed animals, their artificial eyes looking up at me mournfully. I picked up a stuffed snake and threw it at Grace. She squeaked in fright, caught it, and pegged it back at me. I dodged it, falling to the floor.

The snake flew past me and smashed through the window in a ear splitting crash.

--

Grace and I stared at each other in mute shock. I crept towards the window on my hands and knees, picking my way through broken glass on the floor.

A horde of Changed shuffled towards us curiously. There were too many for us to take on, and they covered the whole street.

Grace and I crept to the back of the store, looking for an escape. A big wooden door sat on rusted hinges in the back wall. I turned the handle and gave it a tug. It opened slowly and noisily. Grace winced at the high pitched squeal of long neglected metal grating over itself. We ran through the doorway, which ended onto a spiraling stairwell. The boards of the steps groaned beneath our feet. Another door was at the top of the stairs. I wrenched it open, stabbing a waiting Changed through the mouth. We were on the roof.

--


I made my way over to the railing on the edge of the roof. Beneath me massed at least fifty zombies, keening, ready for a feed.

Grace looked around the perimeter of the roof, trying to find a way of escape. The roof of the closest house was a possible route, but it's roof was steeply sloped and covered in slippery, mossy tiling. We would most likely just slide down to the Changed waiting below.

Suddenly, the door swung open behind us. I swung around, knife bared.

--

Robert emerged from the doorway, glaring at us.

"What was that back there?" He enquired angrily.

"Why are you following us?" I countered.

Robert smirked and sauntered towards me.

"C'mon little girl, play nice. I am your elder, after all," He smiled at me. It wasn't a nice smile. "Now I'm going to tell you what's going to happen. You two are going to run down those stairs and you're going to take down as many of the creeps as you can, then run. You might even live long enough to say goodbye to your little tard. When they follow you, I'll make my merry way home. How does that sound?"

"That sounds like a smart plan, doesn't it? Sending two teenage girls down to save your sorry arse. You are our elder, after all." I smiled back at him sweetly.

"That's how you're gonna play it? Ok. How about this. You go down there, or I'll kill you here and now, and throw your pretty little self down there." He took out a gun and began walking towards me. I took a few steps back until the cold hard bricks of the barrier pressed on my calves. Robert drew even closer.

"That's right. You do what I say now." His foul breath went into my face and down my shirt.

I anticipated his next move and prepared to retaliate. His grimy hands moved to my shoulders. I ducked under his arms. The man grunted. I scrambled behind him, spun around and prepared to fight. He wasn't there. Grace stood a while behind me, breathing shakily. One of her arms was thrust forward, still in a throwing position. The stuffed bird rolled towards my foot slowly. I followed Grace's gaze over the edge of the roof.

The Changed were following a slowly retreating figure, keening loudly and earnestly. I handed the bird back to Grace and we wasted no time in escaping the rooftop and leaving the town behind us.