The Dead Walk Among Us

Chapter 4: Death

Iris has her eyes closed. She's close to death. Jack is crying and holding onto her. I try pulling him away.
    "Jack we need to go. She's going to turn." I yell.
    "No. I'm not leaving her," he says. I finally manage to pull him away. Iris or what used to be her gets up. She stumbles away growling. My best friend is one of them now. I know I should kill her so she doesn't hurt anyone else, but I just can't bring myself to do it.
   
We had been friends since we were eight. I miss her. I need to be strong for Jack. Jack must be wrecked. I am, too. I didn't want this to happen. She didn't deserve this. No one does. I know we shouldn't have left the bunker!
   
If we didn't, she'd still be alive. I wish she said something sooner. Maybe we could have done something. I know it might be a long shot, but maybe someone could have helped her. Maybe given her more time.
   
Now I need to protect Jack. I can't let him get hurt. I'm not going to break that promise. I will try my hardest for her. Jack and I start walking. Where do we go now? What do we do? I feel so lost without Iris. She was our leader for weeks. She always knew what to do. I hope I can be a good leader like she was. I see a car up ahead. I go over to it. The keys are in still in the ignition. I try to open the driver's side door. Of course, it's locked.
   
I pick up a rock and throw it at one of the back windows. I unlock the door. I get into the front. I grab the keys. I start the car up. It's got half a tank of gas. It won't get us that far, but it'll help.
    "Let's take this," I say. Jack gets in. I start driving. After a half hour of aimless driving, I see a camp. A woman walks up to the car. I roll down the window.
    "Hey, do you guys need a place to stay?" the woman asks. Her eyes are normal.
    "Yes, can we stay here? We'll only be here a little bit," I say.
    "Yeah, pull the car in," she says.
    She opens the gate and we drive in.
    "Are you sure about this?" Jack asks.
    "No, but if things go wrong, I will protect us," I say. I get out of the car. The camp is small. The woman comes back over.
    "Where are you two from?" asks.              "We were at the safe house, but we had to leave," I say.
    "I heard about that. So, are you two siblings? You look kinda similar," she says.
    "No, his sister...died," I say.
    "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know," she says.
    She gives us two bowls of beef stew.
    "We just ate," I say. She puts the soup back.
    "Hey, I was hungry," Jack whispers.
    "Who knows what's in that stew," I say. The woman comes back.
    "So, are you two staying with us?" she asks.
    "Yes, for now at least," I say. "Once we are ready, we are going to leave though."
   
She shows us a tent and tells us that we will be sleeping there. I only plan to stay until tonight, then we leave. We go to sleep a few minutes later. I have trouble falling asleep for a bit, but then I finally do sleep.
   
I wake up at six am. I get up and explore the camp a bit. I need to know my surroundings before anything else. Jack is still sleeping. I go back to the tent. Jack is up now. He's holding a picture. I notice it's a picture of him, Iris and I. I remember that day. I found a camera in the bunker. We took a few pictures together but the film ran out after that.
    "Hey, I was thinking we should leave soon," I say.
    "Alright, let's go then," he says. We get back in the car and drive on the road. I didn't like that camp. I just wanted to stay for a bit. I didn't feel all that safe either.
    "Do we have any food?" I ask.
    "No," Jack says.
    "We are going to need food and water," I say. After ten minutes, I pull into a house driveway. We get out. I grab my pistol. We walk inside. The house is small. Jack looks over the island in the middle of the kitchen. He jumps back just as a person rises from behind the island and grabs his arm.
    "Hey! Let go of him!" I yell pointing my gun at him.
    "This isn't a person! It's a zombie!" Jack says. I need to get the zombie away from Jack. The zombie pulls Jack towards him. I shoot the zombie in the arm, but it has no effect. I shoot him again and nothing. I run at the zombie and push him over. The zombie growls and tries to bite me. I hold the zombie down.
    "Jade! There's more of them!" Jack yells.
    "Get to the car!" I yell.
Suddenly someone pulls me off the zombie. It's another zombie. Jack grabs my pistol off of the floor and shoots the one holding me. The shot nearly misses me. My ears ring. The zombie holding me falls. I run to Jack who is on the other side of the kitchen. More of them flood into the tiny room. One tries convincing me he's not a zombie.
    "Get to the car!" I yell again.

We run to the door as the undead chase us across the house. I get the keys to the car ready. Jack pushes the front door open. I unlock the car with the button on the key. I open the driver side door and get in. Jack opens the passenger's side door and gets in. He starts to close the door when a zombie starts opening it.
    "Shut the door!" I yell.

The zombie grabs Jack's hand and pulls him. I start the car. I get out and stab the zombie in the eye. I rip my knife out and the zombie falls. I get back in the car and drive as fast as I can.
    "We barely got out," I say.
    "Oh no...," Jack says staring at his arm. I look over. Blood is all over his arm and his seat.
    "It's just blood...maybe it's not a bite," I say.
    "But where would this blood come from?" Jack says frantically.
    "Maybe you cut yourself by accident," I say. He grabs a bottle of water.
    "Pull over for a second," he says. I pull over. He gets out and pours water on his arm.
    "No, no, no!" he yells. I go over to him.
    "One of them got me," says.

I look at his arm. There is bloody teeth marks by his wrist. I start to panic. We just lost Iris we can't have this now! I promised her I'd protect him and I failed! How could I let this happen? Why did I let this happen? I know I shouldn't be blaming myself but how can I not? I was right there and I still couldn't protect him!
    "Let's just get in the car and go," I say.
    "But I'm bit," he says.
    "I don't care. We need to stick together...no matter what!" I say. "Let's just go!"
    We get back in the car.
    "I hope I'm immune like you," Jack says.
    "I hope so, too," I say. I start driving. I notice we are low on gas. I see a gas station ahead. I pull in. I grab my pistol.
    "Stay here," I say to Jack. He nods. I get out of the car. I open the door. None of the lights are working. I reach for the light switch. The light switch is wet and sticky. I flick the lights on. There's blood on the light switch, my hands, and all over the floor. The blood is smeared on the floor.
   
I get ready to shoot. I follow the blood trail which leads to a small broom closet. I see a woman my age on the floor holding a gunshot wound in her abdomen. She has black hair and brown eyes. She looks at me, staring into my eyes. "Help me, please! One of those infected shot me. I need help," she says.
    "I don't have any medical supplies. How can I help?" I say kneeling next to her.
    "There's a broken down ambulance a few miles away. I need you to take me there," she says.
    I help her up. I bring her to the car. I give her a shirt to hold on the wound. I start driving again.
    "Who is she?" Jack asks.
    "Someone we're helping. So, where's the ambulance?" I say.
    "Just keep driving straight and you'll see it," The woman says.
    I start driving.
    "Who shot you?" Jack asks looking in the rear view mirror.
    "A zombie. He had a gun. I thought he wasn't going to pull the trigger. I was wrong," she says.
    Jack looks shocked.
    "I've never heard of them shooting someone," Jack says.
    "Jack, are you alright?" I ask.
    "No, I have a fever and I feel really sick," he replies.        
I see the ambulance after a few minutes.
    "I'm Elizabeth by the way," the woman says.
    "I'm Jade and this is Jack," I say. I pull over. Elizabeth goes over to the ambulance.
    "Do you need help?" I ask.
    "No, I got this. My mom was a paramedic. It came in handy," Elizabeth says.
    Jack steps out of the car and throws up. It's a black color. What the hell? Why is it black?
    "Are you okay?" I ask.
    "No," he says. Elizabeth finishes fixing her wound after about twenty minutes. We all get back into the truck. Elizabeth lays down in the backseat.
    "Where should we go?" I ask.
    "I don't know. I'm not immune. How much longer do you think I have?" Jack says.
    "Let's just drive and we'll see what we see," I say. He nods.
    "It's weird, you think I'd be happy to die, but I'm scared. What if there is nothing after I die? What if it's just...nothing? What if I don't see Iris after I die? I don't want to die today," he says.
    "I'm sorry. We should have stayed at that camp. I feel like this is all my fault," I say.
    "Pull over," he says. I pull over. He gets out and throws up again. He falls over.
    "Jack!" I say.
    I run over to him. I roll him onto his back.             His eyes open. He has enlarged pupils. I can't bring myself to kill him. I get back in the car. I'm crying.
    "What's wrong, Jade?" Elizabeth asks.
    "My friend's brother...he turned," I say. She leans over and hugs me. How can I keep going after this?