Bloodshed for survival-A zombie novel

Chapter 8: days past

It's been five days since I had been here. I've been helping out now in hunting for food and scavenging for supplies. It doesn't seem like the world has fixed itself, instead things are seeming to get really bad. There had been an increased amount of flesh eaters roaming the area, it seems like their population has grown and there looking for meat further out...could this mean, there is no civilisation left in any town or city around here. The weather is getting worse also, it's getting to the point where the snow is beginning to build up one the once Boggy ground, however this is one positive. I've seemed to warm up to Amber quite a bit now and my way of viewing other people has seemed to change. It's only been five days but it's seems to have moulded me into more of a...stronger person. However Josh and I still have quite a bit of tension between us. He's a very stubborn person but I still don't know why he hates me that much, but it's means nothing to me, we just keep to our own. We will all probably have to move somewhere else soon, were running low on ammo and other supplies and food is running extremely scarce, the zombies must be killing off all the deer that we hunt for a living, and we're running extremely low on ammunition. And the couple of rifles that we have are the only things that keep us safe now.

I walk through the cold forest, the snow crunching beneath my shoes. Amber asked if I can see what food I could find whilst she gathered the ell essentials before we move. My dark eyes move from left to right looking for any sign of an animal. All the time of me hunting has made me adapt to tracking animals. The rifle I hold sits tight in my hands. My breathing is slow as I crouch looking down at the snowy ground, deer tracks. My face is expressionless as I scan the area around me, the tracks head onwards into the trees. Wondering too far is dangerous and Amber warned me about that, especially since there is an increased amount of walkers roaming the area, but I need to press on. We haven't eaten in days and were becoming weak, we could do with the food for the journey and besides I can take care of myself. I stand and begin to follow the tracks, a cold gust of wind sends me stumbling back slightly, the wind followed by snow. "Damn!", I say to myself. A blizzard is beginning to brew, I need to hurry, if I'm caught in the blizzard there will be no chance of me finding my way back to the cabin. I begin pacing, although I'm hungry and thirsty this is my only chance of finding food. The tracks seem to lead up to a lightly wooded area, but the tracks seem to have faded, not because of the snow it just seems like someone has tried to smudge the tracks over. A red colour catches the corner of my eye, I turn my head and through closer inspection I find that it's a drop of blood. A curious look crawls upon my face as I stand looking around, shifting my rifle in my hands I look further up the smudged track to find more blood, it looks like it's caucus was shot and it has been dragged to somewhere other than here. The thought of other people being in the area makes my skin crawl. Just as I was about to turn back and head to the cabin the sounds of groaning and shuffling meets my ears. I knew it was another few zombies walking aimlessly through the forest so I shrug it off, however I feel as if something is off, as if something was out of place. I turn and my eyes widen with shock, there was more than one. So many more, a hoard...

I take of sprinting at the flesh eaters pursue, they snap and screech as they give chase. Manoeuvring over logs and round boulders I pant frantically, the cabin comes into sight, the adrenaline shoots through my veins as the beasts gain on me. The rifle dangles in my hands as the cabin comes closer into sight. Slamming against the door with my momentum I swing it open, Amber and Josh are already at the door, they stumble back in shock as I slam the door shut behind me, finding whatever I can to barricade the wooden barrier. "What's going on?!?" Amber asks with a worried tone, Josh stands waiting for an answer. I pant, trying to get my words out "we...we can't go outside!", "why not?!?" She replies, Josh cuts over us both. "Oh my god! Ryan what did you do!", he stands at the window, frozen by the sight."this was nothing to do with me Josh!" "We need to go! Right now!" He says dismissing the answer, he walks over to Amber grabbing her arm, "cmon! Grab the essentials and let's get the hell out of here!", Amber is reluctant and she pulls from his grasp. "Wait...how many are there". "Too many" I reply "we can't go out just yet, we need to see where they are coming from". "We don't have time!" Josh shouts back "we need to go now before any more show up. "Josh you could go out there and there could be way too many for us to handle, we could be over powered!". Amber stops both of us from talking "stop arguing!" She demands. The Beasts begin tearing at the windows and throwing themselves at the door. "They all seem to have their attention on the front of the house, we could slip through the back but we need to be quick..." She gathers a few backpacks and throws me and Josh one each as she puts her own on. "These bags have the essentials to last us for a few days, now we have no time for other ideas so let's go!", she stands by the back door waiting for us to stand with her. We don't argue and stand by her. The walkers seemed to have broken in through the windows, they shatter as they stick their body's through desperately trying to get to us. She doesn't hesitate and pulls the door open. Me and Josh charge out and Amber follows, there were only a few walkers in sight so we were lucky. We bolt bast them, swinging the butts of our rifles at their heads. Amber keeps close to Josh with an axe at hand.

The zombies realise we have gave them the slip and begin charging towards us, I look back to see there are many more joining the hoard. "Let's go, cmon!" I shout to them as I begin to run up a slope, possibly heading to a road. Josh and Amber try their best to keep up but the snow makes it nearly impossible for us to get up the hill. We slip but we frantically try to keep going upwards. The animal like beings gain as they too slip down the slope, they seem to stop at nothing however and continue to climb. Almost reaching the top, I latch my arm onto a thin tree, I turn and hold my hand out to Amber who is in front of Josh. "Cmon!" I shout holding my arm out. She grabs a hold and I pull her up onto the flat ground ahead. "Watch my back!" I say to her as I look down to see Josh struggling his way up the slope "Josh!" I shout, he looks up with reluctant eyes "grab ahold!", "no!" He replies as he tries to get up himself, the walkers are gaining however, snapping and snarling. "Josh, take hold of my hand now!", Josh looks up again, for the first time I see Josh is actually scared, his face flooded with fear. He grabs hold of my arm but him being much larger than me it's a challenge for me to help him up. One walker grabs ahold of his leg, he kicks it off, the beast rolls down the snowy slope, taking a few more with him. Josh turns his attention back on getting up, his weight joined with mine begins to wear down on the thin tree. "Cmon!". I try my best to pull him up as he pushes himself up slowly, the tree beginning to give way. It seems like it's all over before Josh gives one final push just managing to grab ahold of ambers hand just as she joins in to help, the tree just gives away as we pull him up. It fumbles and tears through anything that it's in front of. We pant as we quickly stand gathering our bearings before taking off down what we think is a road. Josh is silent along with me and Amber, we all find it better just to focused on the task at hand.