Small Eyes (A Zombie Novel)

Clearing day Pt. 2

People laid frozen on the ground like they were afraid to stand up. It was as if the whole block needed to process what it had just heard, with the exception of myself. I felt far more alert than the rest appeared; I was ready to take off running. I looked to my mom and brother, waiting for them to move, as my shoulders grew tight with anxiety.

"Go!" A voice broke the silence. My head whipped in the direction of the military officers who had checked us in, hearing a panicked voice from their direction. I caught a brief glimpse of the doctors as they shoved their tools into their bags without sterilizing them. A few military officers came running by with their guns drawn. The officer who had checked my family and me in, the young one, briefly glanced at us. "Go, hurry!" He commanded before turning to the officers closest to him and breaking into a sprint.

"Come on, come on! Let's go!" Mom shouted as she yanked Delilah off the ground and into her arms. At her words, Wyatt and I stood up and started to run. We kept looking over our shoulders, waiting for mom. "Hurry, hurry!" She darted past Wyatt and me and leaped from the sidewalk into the street just like so many others had done. Delilah was wildly bouncing up-and-down in her arms. She slowed down and glimpsed back to us; "Hurry!" I began moving quicker and as I did, Wyatt fell behind.

Wyatt was a fast runner. Before the disease spread, he had the fastest mile time in his school's history of track. However, I wasn't surprised with his slow speed; Wyatt had a tendency to freeze up when he was afraid. Even though he was a fast runner, he lost almost every track race because he would freeze up the second the competition began.

I reached back and snatched onto Wyatt's arm. For a few moments, I was practically dragging him with me. Once we got a few feet closer to my mom, she resumed her fastest speed. However, I wasn't making much progress as I was struggling to keep my brother running. "Wyatt," I glanced back at him. "come on!" Luckily, my words seemed to snap him back into reality. He started running right next to me. I released his arm so he could run faster and get in front of the crowd. But, he didn't speed up. He was running at the speed of us, my mom and I, he was sticking by our sides.

People begin flooding out of their homes in a panic. A couple individuals filtered out in front of us but the majority filled in a few feet behind. The streets had become engulfed with families and military officials. Several shouts and screams ricocheted down the block just before a loud crash erupted from behind us. I glanced back; a section of one of our walls, our neighborhoods' boarding walls, tumbled over. Protesters began flocking inside though the small section. The military officers sprinted in their direction with a clear motive to get them out of our neighborhood.

All the while, the military commander remained on the speaker and continued to calmly state directions. Saying things like; "Do not be alarmed." and "Please remain calm." but his instructions were drowned out by stampedes of individuals -- both inside the walls and out. I watched as more of our neighbors ran out of their homes; witnessing as neighbors turned on neighbors. Fast runners shoved slower ones out of their path. I even witnessed some men shove their way past children.

A young girl was shoved and nearly toppled over right in front of me. I was quick to react, grabbing the child's arm and jerking her to her feet before the crowd could run over her. I got a brief look at the girl; black hair and bright brown eyes. I took a quick glance around, searching for a concerned parent, but no one caught my eye.

Both Wyatt and I stopped running. "Where's your parents?" I asked the girl before a reckless sprinter knocked into my side forcing me to collide with Wyatt's shoulder.

"I can't find my brother. I can't—I don't—" Tears streamed down the girl's face as her shoulders trembled viciously. I glanced up, searching for Mom, she'd know exactly what to do in this kind of situation. But Mom and Delilah had somehow gotten mixed in with the rest of the crowd. They must've gotten ahead when we stopped.