The Strong Will Survive

Chapter Three - Lilith [EDITED]

 The journey home was long and terrifying. I expected a zombie to attack with every boarded-up shop and abandoned house that I passed.

It was obvious by now that Kenzie wasn't waking up. It had been well over five seconds, obviously, by the time that I finally reached home, exhausted from dragging my friend the entirety of the distance. I was so done, with all of it.

I unlocked my front door and slipped inside, pocketing my key once again. I kept it on me at all times and made sure I knew exactly where on my person it was. I wouldn't have felt even remotely safe otherwise.

I lay Kenzie down on my bed after struggling to drag her up the stairs, wincing whenever she awkwardly hit a step with her foot or elbow. My once beautiful bedt friend now looked sick and hollow. Her skin was slowly tightening, highlighting her bones, and sharp edges jutted out where once her curves and muscles had shown. When I opened her eyelid, her eyes were milky and sightless.

I began to cry. Cradling her head in my lap, I sobbed over what might as well have been her dead body. I had lost so much. Now I had to lose my best friend, too?

When I was finally done with my pity party, I snapped into action.

First, I bandaged the bite on Kenzie's arm. I wrapped it in white gauze after carefully sponging it clean of blood and - to my disgust - dried saliva.

I dressed her in my most beautiful dress, the prettiest . A pang shot through me, but I told myself firmly that a pretty piece of clothing wouldn't be helpful in the zombie apocalypse.

The dress had a sparkling golden bodice, with a flowing white skirt. It came up to Kenzie's knees in the front and dropped to her ankles in the back. The back of the bodice swooped down to reveal her slowly tightening, wrinkling skin. I had worn it to my middle school's graduation dance, and Kenzie had expressed her love for it more than once.

I wiped all of the makeup off of Kenzie's face. She deserved to be naturally beautiful as she...slept. Not that she could, exactly, in her present zombified state.

Lastly, I brushed and braided her hair, using my hair spray and strongest hair tie to ensure that her hair would remain impeccable.

She looked peaceful, if unnaturally old and deathly ill, as she lay there. It finally hit me that a dead, or as good as dead, girl was lying on my bed. My stomach churned and I forced the thought from my mind.

I texted my family.

Kenzie is bedridden. Bit

Reggie responded within seconds.

Nooooo!!! :-( :-( :-(

I waited, but my parents didn't text back, which was odd for them. They had become super overprotective over the past few days and were constantly glued to their phones.

Do u know where mom + dad r

NO

im kinda worried

plz come get me im scared now

I sighed. I shouldn't have said anything. Now I freaked him out for nothing. Kissing Kenzie's forehead, I whispered, "I have to leave. I have to go get Reggie. I promise, I'll be back. I love you, weirdo." It was what we would end each conversation with. Would this be our last?

Im coming reg

I covered Kenzie's face with a cloth before leaving and remembered to lock the door behind me.

As an afterthought, I ducked back into the house and grabbed my mother's largest cooking knife.

*