At Our End

Three

     For a moment the pounding in Ashwyn's ears stopped as her fingers grazed the fresh blood on her oak door. She could feel the weight of her ignorance and what was really happening fall onto her unprepared shoulders. She'd read The 5th Wave, and she was well aware that the apocalypse had just dropped itself on the doorstep of humanity. Vomit climbed up her throat as she realized she had to get inside.
Struggling to stay standing she managed to stumble her way to the back ground level window. Wielding the dying bits of adrenaline in her veins, she threw her backpack into the window. Falling off with a resounding "thud," she groped around for something harder to break the glass. Stumbling about, her shaking hands managed to grab one of the stones surrounding her mom's flower box. Hurling it into the window the glass shattered on contact. Ashwyn carefully took off her coat and flung it over the window sill to protect her from the shattered glass. 
      Avoiding the broken glass littering the ground she pulled her backpack inside and turned to head into the living room. Before she could get much farther the sight of the blood on her door and the girl at her school rushed into her vision. Quickly rushing to the bathroom, she disappeared behind the door.
      Outside the many people not "sick," as it was being referred to, where rushing about rampant. Confusion swept through the ranks of remaining people as it was to their horror that you could also get this "disease" if one to the infected even scratched you. Some people could be seen causing riots, while other-particularly men-stood outside their homes placing bullets into the heads of the infected. No police were getting involved as the world seemed to fall to pieces right outside Ashwyn's door. Houses were a reck, windows broken and shattered. The only good thought was that the sick people/creatures seemed to not attack unless provoked.
When Ashwyn hauled herself back together she managed to walk back into the living room on shaky legs. It was just then it hit her that the reason she was cold was because of the season it was-winter. Remembering her father saying it was important to cover up windows with boards during a storm, she carefully picked her way to the small basement. Finding the small boards left over from the shed her father had built a few years ago she moved back upstairs with the boards, a hammer, and some nails. With the idea of nailing the boards over the window she turned up the thermostat and moved to the front window that looked out upon the seat.
Shocked flooded through her veins as one of the creatures moved into her front yard. A bullet lay lodged in between the muscles of its leg. Most likely from the older man down the street who had camped out on his roof with an M16 and a cigar shooting down the creatures as if it was a normal day. Disgusted by how fast the healthy people had turned into stone-cold heartless beings, she rushed out the door with one of the boards wedged in her hands. All that had happened to Ashwyn flashed through her mind as she swung the board with all her might at the head of the beast. The creature hissed with agony as it stumbled back. Engaging again she swung again, just before she made contact the gnarled hand of the creature it stopped the board mid-air. The withering creature tilted its head with mock delight as it lunged for the girl's head. Dropping her head to avoid the animal's sharp nails, she was taken aback to see the animal jerk with pain as a bullet lodged itself between its eyes. Whirling just in time to see the barrel of her neighbor's rifle fire the shot.
Suddenly the wet blood of the creature sprayed onto Ashwyn as she stood paralyzed staring as the creature crumpled to the ground before her. "Get out! Get out of here girl while you still can!" Her neighbor hollered from his place on the roof. Running she stumbled through the open front door and bolted it shut behind her. Running she bolted into her room and grabbed her biggest backpack off the hook. Her heart pounded in her head as she realized she had to get away from the crowds, for she knew the more people in the area the more creatures.
Quickly she unzipped the bag and threw in a few different pairs of clothes and other necessary items. Breathless she headed to the kitchen. Stuffing granola bars and water bottles into her bag she rushed out the backdoor, not even looking back against her aching heart.

A/N: Hey readers! Thank you for reading and I hope you liked it! If you have any ideas, feedback, or thoughts feel free to comment them here or press that little star button if you liked the chapter!