Killing Corpses (zombie novel)

Chapter One

Rain pellets patterned onto the orphanage window, the grey Californian sky drooping. Laughter filled the room, several children and carers, engrossed in a game of Monopoly. They had been playing the stupid game for an endless hour, attempting to drag me into it every now and again. Not that that was working. I sat by the window, knees hunched up under my arms, glaring out.

I rolled my eyes as another round of giggles erupted from around the game. Several claps sounded as a young girl jumped up and cheered herself. "I won! I won!"

I nestled deeper into my window seat and tried to block everything out. But, my assigned carer didn't let me go so easily.

"Copsyn!" She chirped. "Come and join us for the next round, Miss Gloomy Pants!"

"Piss off, Cassie."

She gasped lightly, "Language!", and came over to me, shaking her blonde hair from her face. I glared at her as she approached.

"Copsyn," she murmured, bending down to match my height. "You need to cheer up. If not for yourself, the other kids. They've had a hard time as well."

I narrowed my eyes and opened my mouth agape slightly. How can one human being be so damn insensitive?

"And what about me!?" I rose my voice. "Two weeks, Cassie. Two. Weeks. I grieve too, y'know."

Her jaw hardened in stubbornness. "It wasn't your fault-"

"Yes it was."

"It really wasn't-"

"Just fucking forget it, alright? Let it go." I snapped. Cassie sighed in dismay and shook her head, before returning to the game.

I relaxed a little more because of her absence, and pressed my forehead against the window. More giggles. I shivered at how happy these people were, when they didn't have their parents. It seemed impossible.

My parents died two weeks ago, I case you didn't catch on. It was an unstable bridge. They tried to cross it in the car, intending on a night out. But, they plummeted twenty feet into a shallow river, all because I recommended a stupid goddamn shortcut. If I hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't be in so much crap.

A fresh spurt of laughter burst from the centre of the room and I'd had enough. I got up out of my seat and stormed over to the door, wrenching it open, and storming out. I heard the laughter die, but I didn't look back at all. They weren't worth it.

Soon enough, I reached my designated room, and threw myself onto my bed. I screamed into my pillow, which soon turned into sobs. Heavy, uncontrollable sobs. I felt my body shake with the force of my grief, the bed shaking with me. I sniffed for the last time and sat up, wiping my eyes and taking in the room, for the hundredth time.

Cobwebs in the corners. A princess duvet. Salmon pink walls. A dresser. A desk. A battery controlled radio. Nothing special at all. There was a full length mirror in the corner, which I looked into, hoping, somehow, I'd see a confident, striking beauty, who was far away from here. Far away.

But all the mirror showed was the dim and pale face of someone I once knew. A depressed, droopy girl, with no intention of living life to the fullest.

My brown hair sat limp and dull on my shoulders, hazel eyes dim. The bags under my eyes were beginning to become purple with lack of sleep, shallow cheekbones jutting out awkwardly.

I tried to smile, but it genuinely hurt my muscles.

"What's the fucking point..." I murmured, sniffing.

I looked out of the window, gazing into the city. Loads of people wandered the streets. I wondered how many of them had lost their parents. How they had recovered from it. That seemed like hell to even think about. Moving on. The two simple words made me shake.

I sighed and dragged my hands down my face, sitting on the bed.

I eventually put my pajamas on, without my acknowledgment really, and I snuggled down into the stiff duvet, willing for sleep. But it didn't come. That wasn't unusual. The place was a dump. There was no way I was staying there. I'd find a way out. Soon.