Maneater :: A Twisted Zombie Tale

Keep running.

Dudeeee Next chapter! I like this story so much! It's doing pretty well. :) Please vote and comment!

Listen to the music... it's freaky as hell. O.O

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What am I going to do!?  I narrowed my eyes trying to see where the Maneaters were. My eyes finally started to clear from the sleep that was in them and I could make out figures a few yards away bent over what must be an animal carcass that they'd brought down.

That gave me a couple seconds head start; I turn in the opposite direction and took off running as fast as my long legs would carry me through the darkness. I heard a few growls behind me and I knew they'd picked up my scent.

Damn, I was really in deep shit now. Maneaters could run FAST. They were not the slow moving zombies of the movies from the past, they were not limited like us humans who got tired and would slow down, no, they would run until they passed out.

Branches cut my face as I ran through them, I could feel blood dripping down my face and cringed, that will just draw them in more! This isn't like we practiced.

Cries filled the woods around me; the sound of their utter and complete hunger for my flesh filled my veins with ice. This couldn’t' be how my life ended. My parents scarified too much for me to just turn into another flesh hungry zombie.

I was in pretty good shape but this was the longest I’ve ever run in my life and I wasn't sure I could keep it up much longer. My side ached and my breath was coming out in deep ragged gasps.

 

Keep running...Keep running...keep running.  I chanted over and over to myself, trying to distract myself from my growing exhaustion. I could hear the sounds of many running zombies gaining on me, "Slow moving zombies MY ASS!" I growled, stupid old time movies got it all wrong. These bitches are crazy fast!

A horrible stench of rotting flesh and bodily fluids reached my nose and I realized suddenly that I was running towards even more danger, I must be almost to their nest! That's what we called where the zombies would return during the daytime.

"Shit!" I hissed and frantically tried to think of what to do. It's not like I could just fly away... Wait! Fly! Trees! There were trees everywhere I could climb up one! Without breaking my stride I reached my hands up and as soon as I felt a branch I could climb on I latched onto it and swung my body up and over it until  I was bent over it with the branch in my stomach, but I wasn't out of danger yet.

I gripped the branch above me with one of my hands and hoisted my body into a standing position and started climbing up higher and higher.  The sounds of the zombies got slightly less loud and my heart slowly started slowing down.

Why I hadn't thought about climbing a tree earlier I have no clue. I was just too startled to be in the right frame of mind. One thing I knew for sure, I couldn't let that happen again, EVER.  Finally I found the right shape of branches and pulled out the rope and blanket.

 My father had woven special thread through the flannel so it was extra strong and on each corner of the blanket there was a metal eyelet woven in so I could fashion myself a hammock of sorts to sleep in trees. I felt so grateful for everything my father had done to prepare me for life just in case he ever couldn't protect me.

A few minutes later everything was set up and I was rocking back and forth gently in my hammock. I had a crust of bread and a piece of jerky for my dinner and a couple gulps of water to rinse it all down and I was ready to rest my poor aching body.

 I had at least until daylight before I could even start to figure out how I was going to escape the zombies below me so I let myself drift off into a deep, dream filled, sleep.

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My fifteen year old self stared lovingly at my mother who was spinning around the front yard with her arms stretched into the sky as if trying to reach the cloud. I laughed at her silliness but soon joined in.

 

My long brown hair blew wildly as I spun in circles as fast as I could next to my mother. She stopped and watched me, clapping her hands and singing a song from when she was young about a little help from my friends and other random things that made no sense to me.

 

I asked her who it was by and she said some sort of bug's name. I didn't actually care. I just liked hearing her voice when she was in a happy mood like this.

 

When I stopped spinning we laid on the grass on our backs and stared at the clouds, pointing out what we saw in the fluffy white shapes. I heard the front door open and my father started laughing at us. I stuck my tongue out in his general direction but was too content to move.

 

"Careful or your face might stick that way." He yelled over to me, and I wrinkled my face into the worst expression I could manage.

 

"Would you still love me if I looked like this?" I yelled back at him, wiggling my eyebrows and scrunching my nose and crossing my eyes. He leaned against the porch railing and put his chin in his hand.

 

"I'll always love you."

 

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In my sleep tears dripped out of the corner of my eyes and I moaned in my sleep. Even unconscious I still missed them.