A New Home

"Well, looky here."

Blood dripped slowly from the deep gash in your side. Your laboured breathing and heavy footsteps gave you away in the otherwise deathly quiet of the woods. The faint whisper of the horde was steadily getting closer behind you, and you hated to think of the fate that awaited you. One thing you did know- was that you needed to stop, gather yourself and tend to your damned wound.

You had snagged your side on a jagged steel pole whilst running from the horde you had encountered in the clearing. It had ripped a ravine into your skin, spilling precious blood onto the floor and making you cry out in pain. Great, you thought. I'd survived 10 years in the apocalypse and a fucking steel pole will be the death of me. Typical.

You stumbled clumsily ahead, and spotted a tree to your right that looked somewhat easy to climb. Staggering forward, hands gripping the broad trunk of the tree, you hoisted your leg up to the wide branch under your foot. You yelped in pain as your wound split further, cursing yourself as you realised you had just given away your position. Hurriedly, you attempted to pull yourself up into the branches, and seated yourself on a thick branch just 6 feet off of the ground. It would have to do. You whipped out your water bottle and poured water on the gash to clean it, hissing through your teeth as spasms of pain shot their way up your side. You took a swig, then tore the side of your trousers with your free hand- a makeshift bandage that would have to hold up for the time being. Slowly, steadying yourself, you inched your head around the trunk, scanning, searching for any signs of the horde coming after you.

"Shit."

The faster ones at the front were headed straight to you. You had no where to go apart from up, and that wasn't an option as the pain and exhaustion that rocked your body told you to stay put. You just had to hope that they'd miss you.

Holding your breath, you daren't move incase any slight movement gave away your position. Your shoulders tensed as you slowly and quietly tried to pull the knife from your boot as a last resort. As you did so, you felt your weight slightly sag. You took a sharp intake of breath. Did you check the strength and durability of the branch before deciding to plonk yourself there idiot? No. Fanfuckingtastic. You were having a field day with this. The almost inaudible sounds of cracking filled you with dread as you could feel the branch giving way beneath you. The Dead one's  heads turned slightly but they carried on  moving forward. Atleast you had that going for you-
You exclaimed loudly in pain as the branch completely gave way beneath you, sending you hurtling 6 feet down into twigs and leaves. You tried to get up because now the whole forest had definitely heard you, and you had to get out of there ASAP, but a shooting pain screamed it's way from your ankle straight up your leg, making you sit back down in agony and shock. Closing in fast, the dead shuffled towards you, moaning and growling, stretching mangled and decaying arms and fingers towards you.

"Shitshitshitshit..."

Ah! You had your knife! You went to hold it up in a defensive position as you painfully shuffled your way back to the base of the tree, but realised it had escaped your grasp in the fall. You desperately looked around and thought you could see a faint glimmer in the shrubbery to your right but it was too late- they were on you. The first was a female, who slumped to the floor and knelt at your foot. Your foot met its face with a sickening crack as its jaw went flying backwards. Another circled round and dropped onto your lap, and without hesitation or a moments thought, you sunk your fingers into its eye sockets and ripped back as hard as you could. A gut wrenching rip filled your ears as the skull of the decayed monster swung from your finger tips. Gritting your teeth, you swung your new weapon at the head of of the foot fetishiser, sending brain hurtling onto the forest floor. The moans and growls of the horde were almost upon you and you began to panic. You needed to run but you were physically incapable, and your weapon was out of reach.

"Come on girl, don't be a fucking sissy now, you've just got to get to your damned knife. What's a little ankle pain and some more spilled blood?"

You inched your way towards where you thought you saw the glimmer, shrieking as stray twigs sliced and ripped through the cavernous gape in your side. You let out a strangled sob of pain and frustration, then you suddenly felt cold steel brush against your bloodied fingers. A sigh of relief escaped your lips. You twisted yourself onto your ass to face the moaning wall of flesh, and feebly attempted to scoot backwards away from danger, all the while grasping your knife in front of you with feverish desperation. You were becoming dizzy, your mind fogging as pain crushed your entire being. A tear escaped you as you accepted your seemingly inevitable fate as the horde was almost upon you. A heavy pit formed in the bottom of your stomach. This isn't how you thought you'd go, but sometimes things don't go as planned. Gathering the rest of your strength, you grasped the blade with both of your hands, knuckles turning white with the effort, and directed the glinting point towards your eye. Well, you thought, better than being eaten alive I guess. Just as you were about to cut your breath short, something small, long, flashed by you and struck a Dead one in the skull. Struck with confusion, you turned your head behind you and spotted three men coming your way. One had a crossbow and aimed at another walking corpse, striking it with trained precision. The second had what seemed like a metal arm, and charged past you to send brains, and bones and teeth flying through the air with a forceful swing of his iron weapon. And the third... Breath hitched in your throat. He wore a black leather jacket and black trousers, and had a rugged and cheeky look to his face. He sported a crow bar which was slung lazily over his shoulder. He knelt beside you, his breath tickling your cheek. Wow, great time to be looking at how attractive someone is when you could be in danger. You really pick your moments. 

You instantly swung at him, catching him off guard and knocking him backwards. Time to make a break for it- if these idiots wanted to be brave then let them- it would give you a running start at least. You pushed up from the floor ready to run, but suddenly dropped to the floor from the pain in your ankle. You could hear him getting up behind you, and you tried to launch yourself forward but were caught by strong, muscular hands.

"Well, looky here. We have a spitfire. I guess you need saving after dropping like a sack of  bricks and throwing your sorry ass through the air? To give you some credit you did get pretty far, albeit half a metre."

You struggled weakly but he held you in place. Dammit. I'm too weak to fight off these three strange men in the middle of the woods. Huh. And how exactly do you think this will turn out, you thought to yourself. One of his companions- the scruffy one with the crossbow- yelled in your direction.

"Time to go! Take her with us and let's get the fuck out. Go around so we don't lead them back." He nodded his head to the relentless horde in front of you.

Suddenly you were scooped up into the strong arms of your captor, and you winced in pain as his arm dug unknowingly into your wound. He adjusted himself as he ran with you in his arms, realising his mistake.

"Ah shit, sorry darlin'." His boyish, sarcastic manner was replaced by one of worry. "That looks nasty. You've been through the wars huh?" He looked genuinely concerned for you, his brow furrowed and his hazel eyes sincere.

You tried to nod in response but were fighting the urge to pass out. The pain from both your side and your ankle was almost unbearable, and the worry of who these people were and where you were being taken plagued you. Your head lolled backwards as darkness began to envelope you.

"Stay with me kid."

The muffled voice of your captor/rescuer barely registered as you drifted off into a thick and heavy sleep.