Dystopian zombie era

Chapter 27

I hope she's okay. As annoyed as I was, she was everything I had.

"Why's your head in the gutter?" His tone is sharp and he sets me down on my feet. Thankfully there are no zombies in sight but I have a feeling they'll catch up to us soon. "Where to now?" I ask giving him the gun. He doesn't say anything and starts walking.

He takes long strides and I have to hurry to keep up with him. My heels click loudly against the ground and I'm surprised they've lasted this long. I'm glad I still have them cause I doubt I'll be able to run in flat shoes. "We need to look for the hospital."

"What? What about the others? We have to look for them."

"We won't be able to find them. It's too time consuming. The hospital is our best bet."

"But how?"

"Look." He points. "There are apartments. If we can get to the roof then we can scout the area for a hospital." My eyes widen. "No way! Don't you watch movies? We'll die. The place will be infested with zombies."

"Then you do what you want but I'm going." He starts walking and I want to scream and hit him but what choice do I have?

It's either be alone or be with him. I mumble a string of curse words at him before I follow suit.

~~~

I hear a loud bang before I see seven people take off running. People start cheering and I watch a familiar figure run much faster than the others. His cherry red hair thrashes about wildly and I cross my arms, waiting for him to finish first like he always does.

I spot another familiar figure and I dart across the field and underneath the pavilion. My friends can't see me here. They'd laugh and I'd never hear the end of it.

I love running. When I'm sure I'm alone, I dress into comfortable clothes - except I keep my heels on - and I run laps around the field.

It feels good.

The wind in my hair and on my face. Plus it's a good way to keep in shape too.

But I'm a popular girl. I'm supposed to keep wearing makeup everyday and go to parties and even sleep around but that's not me. Just because I look pretty, that's what everyone wants me to be and I stupidly go along with it.

The only two people that don't expect all that from me is Darcy and Jay but they're so busy with each other, I don't want to be a third wheel. I didn't even notice the runners had finished until I feel a presence next to me.

Storm smiles his lopsided smile and he pants. "Why don't you join? You can run really fast." I roll eyes. "I told you this before. I can't."

Now he rolls his eyes. "Who cares what other people think? Aren't you supposed to do what you enjoy?" I huff and cross my arms. Storm saw me run one day and I got so panicked thinking he was going to tell on me and laugh but he didn't.

He challenged me to a race and for the first time, he came second. Although I threatened him not to tell a soul. "You're so good and everyone would love to have you here." I sigh. "I know but it's just not me."

"Oh well. I hope you change your mind." He waves and walks off.

~~~

I stumble over my feet and fall to the ground. "Crap." My head is spinning. "What are you doing?" I hear Lex ask.

What was that? Was that a memory?

"I... Never mind."

"If you're done playing, can you get up so we can reach the apartments before nightfall?"

I frown. He's really working on my nerves. Why am I stuck with him? I take my words back. He's not hot anymore. I get up and I'm surprised that we haven't seen a zombie so far. I hope the others are okay.

I catch up to Lex. "Have you had any memories from before?" He shakes his head. I can tell he doesn't want to talk so I keep quiet and we walk in silence. At least it isn't awkward silence. We encounter a few zombies but Lex is quick and has them on the ground before I can even blink. As we walk, I get an all too familiar pain in my abdomen and I let out a groan.

This can't be happening right now.

The large building of apartments loom over us and a chill runs down my spine. This is such a bad idea. There's no way we'll be able to get to the top without bumping into any zombies.

The front door is closed and Lex walks to it. "Stay close." He tells me before he puts his hand on the handle and opens the door.