An Unexpected Calm

Part 1

My feet pounded against the pavement, if it could even be considered that anymore. Everything was dilapidated at this point. Weeds were growing out from the cracks under my feet. Everything smelled like decay and trash. I had grown used to it by now. I had adapted.

Adapted pretty much describes my main action the past couple of years. Fought is also a good verb to use. An adjective to describe me would be tired. At this point, I just wanted to sleep for a couple of weeks, but that isn’t possible. I was alone, so I always had to be alert. I was looking out for myself.

I had been looking after two for the first couple of months. It was me and my German Shepard Chief. He was a great companion during the beginning, and I wouldn’t have made it to this point without him. He had saved my life numerous times.

You see, at the beginning of all of this, I was still innocent and weak. I couldn’t harm a fly no matter how hard I tried. I was on my own and didn’t know how to defend myself. Chief had been the fierce and violent one at the beginning as I slowly grew accustomed to my new lifestyle.

Chief had died protecting me, and I am still very grateful for his companionship during the beginning. I hate to say it now though, but it’s just so much easier only having to worry about myself. Chief was tenacious, but he was still a dog. He was dependent on me for a lot of things.

Right after Chief’s death, I had considered trying to find someone to team up with, but I realized most people just ended up being a burden in a time like this. Food was scarce, and I know I probably would have just argued with the person over who got what.

For those reasons, I had stuck to being alone, and I really think I had benefitted from that decision. I had grown a lot stronger over the years, and I could pretty much fend for myself for the most part. I had learned a lot of survival skills as well. I could scavenge for food and I knew how to bandage wounds pretty easily. My mum would be proud of my independence if she was still around.

I pushed that thought to the back of my head because I tried not to let thoughts of my parents get to the forefront of my brain. The sadness that flooded me as I remembered them left me momentarily weak, which isn’t beneficial in a zombie apocalypse.

I had gotten separated from my parents during the start of it all, because they had been at work and I had been at home. I haven’t seen them since it all started, and sometimes I wonder if they’re still alive. I always hope that they are, but even if that was so, the chances of me reuniting with them ever again are slim.

To avoid the sadness and loneliness I felt when I thought about my parents, I focused on moving my feet faster to put some distance between the zombies that were chasing me.

By now, a lot of the zombies had been eliminated by the people who had still managed to survive. It had taken years to whittle down their numbers, but there were still a lot that needed to be “killed”. Technically the zombies are already dead, but kill is still a term a lot of the people use. I prefer the word terminate.

The zombies that were left were mainly the most powerful ones. They managed to always overpower any humans that went up against them, and all of the fighting endured only made them stronger. In the process of eradicating the weak ones, we left the strong ones to grow even stronger. Thinking about it now, it seems pretty illogical, but at the time things were starting, people weren’t putting much thought into which zombies they were terminating; they were merely concerned with staying alive.

Since a lot of people haven’t survived up to this point, it’s hard to just find people wandering the street now. I used to be able to shout for help and have someone come rushing to my aid almost immediately, but that wasn’t the case now, which is another reason I have learned to fight for myself.