Alone

Chapter 28

I lose my breath and tumble down to the ground from running. I land face first. The side of my face starts to sting. I reach my hand up and blood has found a way to the surface.

I sit up and look to where I landed. A glass shard is poking out of the leaves.

I grab my knife as I start to hear shuffling. I listen a little closer and realize it's in the trees.

Squirrels.

Food.

I look for one of the pesky animals and aim my knife for it.

I throw it, but miss, and it comes crashing down the side of the tree. I spot another and try again.

Nailed it. I've pinned it's tail to the tree, but how am I supposed to get up there?

This is just insane. This squirrel could have rabies.

I grab the tree bark and hoist myself up, one branch at a time.

Finally, my eyes reach a shivering small brown piece of fluff. I gently pull the knife away, and hold the small animal in my hand, holding onto a branch with the other.

"I'm sorry." I say to the squirrel, still holding it, but suddenly it jumps out of my hands and scrambles up my other arm, and back onto the tree.

As it pushes it's way up my arm, it pushes it's claws into my skin. I see is blood, then I hit the ground.

•••

I wake up staring at dark clouds, and the sound of shuffling feet coming towards me.

I jump up and hold my head as it spins.

Gosh, what happened?

I grab my knife and charge towards the stalkers.

I push my weapon into a dead woman's thick skull.

I pull it back out swiftly and charge to the next.

A teenage boy. He was wearing a blue shirt and jeans. But bloody.

I rush myself to the next and the next.

The final one is another teenage boy. I recognize his sharp eyes. His blond hair. His muscular muscles.

"Zach?" I say.

Zach was my boyfriend, before all of 'this'. He never even made it out of the school building. I watched him get bit when I went back for him.

Mrs. Katrina, our art teacher, bit his arm, then he stabbed a pair of scissors through her brain.

My brain flashes back to the moment.

•••

I rush back to the school to go get Zach, tears dripping down my face from having to kill my dad, and almost my mom.

"Zach!" I yell, gathering the attention of the 'monsters'.

I rush into the schoolyard and see my science partner, Makayla. I close my eyes and say goodbye to all my now dead friends before rushing into the school building.

I gasp and hurry around the corner towards my Principal.

"Mr.Wills! Are you o-" He moans and starts charging at me.

"AHHHH!" I yell. Dodging his hands just barely.

I back away from him, not watching where I'm going and run into my music teacher, Mr. Cane.

I whimper and run around the corner just to see even more 'monsters'. They all turn their heads and rush towards me. I yell again and head up the stairs to my left.

I jump over dead corpses, run around blood pools, and try to ignore the screams of people, echoing through the halls.

I finally make it to Zach's homeroom, Mrs. Hazel's class. She was my math teacher. I burst through the door, just to see the room empty.

"No, no, NO!" I yell, slowly back out and yelling at the room. I hear running down the hallway coming towards me.

"Zach!" He rushes to me and gives me a comforting hug.

"Firess." He kisses me on the forehead and backs away from me. "I thought I would never see you again!" He smiles and I smile back.

But the fun ends just as my art teacher, Mrs. Katrina charges out of Mrs. Hazel's room.

"Zach! Watch out!" He whips around and she grabs his arm and bites him.

"NOOOOO!" I yell I cover my mouth and then rush over to him and pry her off his arm. He takes his weapon and stabs her in the head.

He smiles. "She's gone now! It'll be okay!" I look at his arm, blood drips from his forearm and drips down his fingertips.

"No, you're not okay!" I argue with him. "You're gone." I lower my head and whisper.

"Forever."