While We Fall (The Eva Series #2)

Chapter Five

I awoke to the cackling laughter of a Kookaburra and the sun rising over the rooftop. My muscles ached from all the fighting, running and travelling we had been doing since the outbreak.

All I wanted to do was enjoy a hot shower and dive under the covers of a big, comfy bed. But my current reality was nowhere near that heavenly fantasy.

I sighed as I lifted Wyatt’s arm from around my shoulders, quietly got up from the couch and made my way to the ledge to scope out the main street.

Scanning the area, only a few zombies walked the street. My stomach turned when my eyes landed on Jill’s lifeless body, her shredded torso, head and right thigh were all that remained.
Forcing myself to look away, I thought I saw something moving in the distance. Looking closer, I could see a small figure running between some of the cars piled on the road.

I ran to pull the binoculars out of Wyatt’s backpack, accidentally waking him up in the process.
“Good morning, beautiful,” he smiled, but when he saw the worried expression on my face he jumped up from the couch in one swift movement. “What is it?”
“I saw something down there,” I said as I ran back to the rooftop wall. “I think it was their son, Max.”

Wyatt stood next to me as I peered through the binoculars, searching for the figure on the street. After a moment of frantically moving my line of sight from car to car, I finally found him. He had climbed into the back of a smashed up station wagon, and he looked terrified. He couldn’t have been more than three or four years old.

“We need to get to him.” I said as I passed the binoculars to Wyatt.
As he spotted the boy through the binoculars, I leaned further over the ledge wall to see how many zombies blocked our way out.
“Wait,” said Wyatt, confused. “There’s a guy getting in the station wagon with him. He doesn’t look infected. He must be one of Tom and Jill’s friends. ”
Squinting to get a better look, I saw the man Wyatt was talking about. He sat in the station wagon with the boy and slowly closed the door behind him.
At that moment, Ben’s voice appeared over the walkie-talkies.

“Wyatt? Eva? You there?”
Wyatt handed me the binoculars and grabbed the walkie-talkie from his backpack.
“Yeah, you guys all good?”
“We’re fine,” He answered, and I saw his head pop up from behind the wall on the opposite building. “Let’s get the hell outta here.”
“Ugh, we have a bit of a problem,” cringed Wyatt as he ran a hand through his hair. “Is Tom awake?”
“He’s downstairs with Jo making sure there’s a clear path to get out. Why? What’s the problem?” Asked Ben, exasperated.
“We think we found his son,” continued Wyatt. “He’s in one of the cars on the street with some guy. He looks okay, but we gotta help them, man.”

For a moment, all we heard through the walkie-talkie was static.
“Okay. I’ll get Tom and Jo to the RV and start it up. You two get the kid. We’re leaving now.” I watched as Ben gave us the thumbs up and disappeared from view.
Wyatt and I packed up our backpacks as fast as we could, pushed the couch out of the way of the door to the stairwell, and braced ourselves for what lay ahead.
“We can do this, Eva,” whispered Wyatt before he opened the door. “Just run for it, and smash through anything that gets in your way.”
I nodded, closed my eyes and took in a deep breath as I clutched my axe tight in front of my chest.

Wyatt pulled the door open and we started to creep down the stairwell, listening carefully for any unwelcome intruders.
By the time we reached the bottom floor, my heart was beating so hard that I could feel every pulse in my body throbbing.
“Ready?” Wyatt asked before we entered the pub.
“Let’s do this.” I replied, my voice sounded shaky but my determination was stronger than ever.
Wyatt leaned in and kissed me softly before taking hold of my hand.
As soon as he pulled the door open, we started to run.