Eli was barely staying afloat before the apocalypse. Working long shifts, taking care of his younger brother, and just trying to figure out what to do with his life.
When he finds his mom trying to take a chunk out of her youngest son though, Eli...
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The low cackling had me tensing up, my eyes sweeping the perimeter. Everyone else paused, stopping their chatter as they looked for the source as well. My eyes locked on Elis, briefly flickering to Mason who had a scowl on his face, still unhappy.
Flicking them back up, I was worried when I saw the pure fear in the man's eyes who was so often a pillar I leaned on for support. A shuffling in the bushed surrounding the clearing we were in rustled.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Javier pulling on his bag, but my eyes stayed on Elis'. I didn't want to separate from him, not again. I didn't get a chance to move towards him as his lips moved, shaping into the words I hoped he wouldn't tell me to do as he quickly hoisted Mason off the ground with his hand and took off into the sudden chaos. I moved swiftly, not having time to dwell on what was happening as my bag was on my back and Ember was in my arms as my feet flew under my body as I followed Javier through the foliage.
I nearly wanted to laugh, the way we ran was what we would have done together three years ago. At the same time, I wanted to sob as rain began to fall and Ember began to wail in my arms as I held on tight to her.
The sudden pounding of footsteps had me glancing over my shoulder, my footsteps slowing as I squinted my eyes in the rain, unable to pick anything up as the sound was gone.
As I turned back around, my heart fell in my stomach. Javier was nowhere in sight.
Panic was seizing my throat as I kept my feet moving, I couldn't stop. Not when the stalkers were out there and the threat of the dead shambling, waiting for a bite.
I kept my feet moving as Embers wails were swallowed by the sound of the pounding rain.
We were lost. We were lost, and we could be running farther away from Eli and the rest of the group as my feet pounded into the dirt.
I didn't have a chance to slow my feet as I was suddenly flying forward, my hair flying into my face as Ember screamed out. The year-old girl not understanding what was happening, Hell even I didn't.
A splitting pain shot through my side as I cried out, I cradled Ember closer to my chest, my elbows keeping her away from the ground.
The low groans prompted me to get moving as I pulled myself from the ground, biting my dirty lip to keep myself from crying out again. Feeling the ground, I wanted to scream at my luck as a branch had stabbed into my side as I fell.
And I just ripped it out, causing the one thing to stop my blood flow to be ripped from my body.
I moved a few feet forward, my pain stopping me from moving any faster.
Mason had taken to climbing trees in his free time when we weren't on the move, and he was damn good at it as he quickly managed to scale trees, going far higher than any of the other children could. We spent our free time analyzing how to spot a good tree to climb, the attributes it had to have.
