ZombiePalooza - Anthology

#TeamEcrivain Pt. III - @LovelyBurns's "Emily"

// Emily

By //  LovelyBurns

Lying on the floor, I tried to regain my breath. I could see my chest rise and lower to the rhythm of my heart beating quickly.

I no longer knew if my face was bathed in tears or blood. It was so dry that I felt the twitching of each wrinkle on my cheeks or forehead.

With one last effort, I sat down on the clay court and observed their condition.

Most had twisted jaws while others had arms or legs detached from the rest of the body. But the common point was that no one had a head. I cried, taking the handle of the hatch. My hand gripped it as if my life depended on it. And that was the case.

For several months, these beasts had appeared on the surface of the Earth. For several months they had been attacking us and biting us. For several months, men and women were turning into zombies.

I wiped my cheeks, but I think I had spread more blood on my face. With a grimace of pain, I tried to get up. The zombies had not managed to bite me, but by trying to kill them, I had been covered with their blood and some of their organs from what I see. Intestines hung on my top.

I try not to vomit and quickly removed the dead and bloody organ.

"Emily!" I heard the man's voice far away.

Before being able to answer him, Eric who had been my neighbor before the zombies appeared in my field of vision. I raised my arm to make him a sign that I was still alive. He ran towards me, but I saw that he limped slightly. Had a zombie scratched him? I frowned with concern, but didn't say anything about it. For the moment.

"You are fine?!" he yelled while running towards me.

"Well, I'm alive so I guess that I'm fine," I answered with some sarcasm.

Eric just sighed. His black hair was bathed in a liquid that I guessed was blood. His clothes were torn, more than mine. It wasn't the first time that I saw him like that so, but I couldn't help feeling uneasy.

"Come, we need to go somewhere else, there are others who are coming."

"What? You didn't kill everyone?" I asked while he pulled me away.

"I couldn't."

I wanted to ask more questions but he started running. I followed him quickly.

Despite the pain in my legs I kept running with Eric. I could see he was struggling because of his right leg. I pinched my lips and waited until we finally stopped in the middle of a forest.

It was a natural place, a little harder to access for zombies. Everything in the city had been destroyed for several months. The buildings had an unstable foundation that threatened to collapse at any time. Some debris were on the ground, which also didn't facilitate walking for both men and zombies.

Eric and I had elected our home in the forest near the town. It was our quiet corner with a stock of food stolen here and there. Unfortunately there were too many zombies this time so we couldn't get any food with us.

When we were out of breath at our headquarters, we began to bathe back to back in a river. A cold water that made me shudder. Tiredness and hunger were also a reason for my trembling. By making an inventory of my wounds, I finally had only little wounds on my stomach, legs and arms. I sighed in relief to have no open wounds.

"Shit," I heard Eric swear.

"What have you?" I asked while putting back some dry clothes.

"I'm sorry."

I frowned and turned towards him. I opened my eyes wide when I saw his leg. Already dressed in a shirt and a boxer, he had left his wound at my sight. Blood was still flowing from his wound. Scratches.

My heart beat faster when he took a gun on the ground. We were always armed. It was essential with these zombies prowling like vultures.

"No," I whispered, afraid.

"You have to kill me," he said pointing the gun at me.

I shook my head quickly. I couldn't believe it or even kill him. The bites and scratches of the zombies transformed humans after a few minutes. I had discovered it when a zombie had bitten my sister. It was the first time I saw one and the first time I saw a person die...

"I'm already breathing too fast while standing up and doing nothing, Emily. You have to kill me before I feel the need to bite you... And I feel it will be soon."

"No, I can't do that!" I said with panic.

"Fine..."

He put the gun on his head but before he shot, I grabbed his arm. The shot went off, but in another direction.

Shit... It had made too many noises. The zombies would find us.

"Don't leave me alone," I said, taking him in my arms.

"I'm sorry Em... You have to go to the others. I'm sure you'll be safe there. "

"But..."

I pinched my lips and then pressed the trigger. The shot went off, the blood spurted, the tears fell.

Very soon I heard noises. They were there.

The others. Survivors. These were men who were at the Newstead Abbey. We heard them on the radio. The only way of communication still on, even though there was a lot of crackling. A short message had been sent.

Iheard other noises, and it was there that I took a bag and stuffed food andclothes. I then ran away from the zombies and away from Eric. He who was nowdead.