Chapter 3

It’s day 10 of the beginning of the end. Most of the city has been bitten and those who haven’t been bitten are hiding.

My phone battery ran out a few days ago. Yesterday I broke into someone’s abandoned house and slept in their hot press. I’m running low on supplies so today I’m going to the abandoned petrol station a few miles down the road. 

The whole city is like a ghost town. Everywhere is empty and silent. I haven’t met another uninfected person since I climbed out of my bedroom window over a week ago. I’ve only ran into a handful of zombies which I fended off with the kitchen knife I stole from the local supermarket.

I haven’t really had time to process my mothers death. I’ve been solely concentrating on surviving. It’s only when I find somewhere safe to sleep do the tears start to fall. I never let them stay for long though, quickly wiping them away and squeezing my eyes shut, desperately searching for sleep.

I walk along the empty road, constantly looking around me and listening for any sound of movement.

I shiver and pull the coat I stole from someone’s wardrobe around me more tightly.  I wonder what my mother would say if she knew how much I steal these days. But I am desperate and desperation can make murderers and thieves out of anyone. Besides it’s not like anyone was going to miss the coat or the socks or the bread. The people I stole from were long gone, most likely dead or infected.

It all happened so quickly. One minute everything was completely normal, the next it was anything but normal. 

When I jumped out of my bedroom window over a week ago I ran towards the nearest police station, hoping to find help but I was only met with more blood and zombies. After that I ended up in an old dilapidated building. I spent the next day there, shivering in a corner, too scared to leave. I had to though when a zombie had made its way into my sanctuary.

I tried calling Jenna several times before my phone died but she never picked up so I assume the worst. I assume the worst for all my friends, I have to in order to solely concentrate on myself and my own survival.

Since then, I’ve jumped from abandoned house to abandoned house, only staying a few hours in each one. I try to catch a few hours of sleep during the day and stay awake all night because that’s when the zombies are most active and I have to be completely alert at all times.

I enter the petrol station through a shattered window around the back. Someone had clearly gotten there before me and had ransacked the place. It looked as though a fight had broken out inside too. Food was scattered all over the ground and two of the shelves had been knocked over.  

I cautiously creep around the shop, picking up tinned food and shoving them into my backpack. I crouch down beside one of the shelves rummaging through the bread, trying to find a loaf that was still in date. I find one and push it into my backpack not caring if it gets a bit squished.

I straiten up when I hear movement behind me. I look around while slowly reaching into the front pocket of my backpack, fingers locking around the handle of my knife.  

I hear the shuffling noise again and freeze. I’ve heard the noise enough times by now to know it was coming from a zombie. I carefully swing the backpack onto my shoulders trying to make as little noise as possible. While the zombies sight isn’t the best I’ve learnt that they have extremely good hearing. They can also move pretty fast when they want to.

I slowly edge along the shelf wielding my knife, preparing myself for a rotting corpse to leap at me at any moment. I turn around the corner of the shelf and there it was, clouded, lifeless eyes staring right at me. I jump and stab it in the jaw as it reaches for me. The zombie lets out a strangled gurgle and I use the split second that it’s distracted to stab it in the eye. 

The zombie shrieks and lurches forward. I step out of its way and run for the shattered window. I hastily climb through it managing to cut my shin on the broken glass in the process. I hiss in pain and stumble and fall onto the dusty tarmac.

Behind me, the zombie is clambering out of the window. I quickly pick myself up off the ground and reach for my knife which had fallen on the ground beside me.

I almost scream as a second zombie comes running at me from around the corner. Great now there’s two of them. I can barely defend myself against one, how am I going to fend off two zombies at once and walk away alive?

I take a step back, considering just dropping my backpack and just making a sprint for it but then I hear a familiar gurgling sound from behind me. I spin around and come face to face with another zombie. This time I really do scream and slash the zombie across the face. 

Spinning around again, I wield my knife and prepare for the oncoming attack from the other two walking corpses.

They run at me, dead skin flapping on their rotting faces. I take a deep breath and stab them both. One in the head, the other in the throat. Then I turn to the side and slice zombie number three’s ear off. It falls onto the floor with a dull thud. 

I start walking backwards, backing myself against the shop wall. Big mistake. Big fucking mistake. All three zombies run at me at once. There’s no way I’m going to be able to fight all of them at once and not get bitten. 

I throw my knife at zombie number two hoping to kill it or at least distract them long enough to give me a chance to run away or give me a head start at least. The knife lodges in its shoulder but doesn’t slow it down. I don’t think the zombie even blinked. 

Well this is it I think as the zombies get closer. I’m either about to be savagely eaten or I’m about to become a walking corpse myself. Either way, I’m about to die. 

I screw my eyes shut and pray that it will be a quick death. But instead of feeling the painful throb of teeth biting my skin I hear the sound of weapons slicing through the air and a multitude of thuds. 

A/N

Teehee 🤭 can’t wait for next chapter! Hope you enjoyed!

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