Becoming Them: A Zombie Novel

Twenty-Nine

     We ran and didn't stop. Even when my legs started to burn and my head felt a little woozy, we ran. We continued until we took a sharp turn to our left, had a short rest, then resumed running again, sure that the group must've noticed we were missing by now and were searching for us. I felt bad that they had to worry about us now, but what was I supposed to do? Just let Adrian get away with it? It wasn't just something I could get over. There was a chance Mum could've been alive and been with me, but Adrian took that away from me, and from what I heard, it was easy for him.

     Joey would understand. He lost his son, and I'm sure that if his son had been a target of anyone that wasn't a zed, then he would've done the same thing, except maybe he would've informed someone beforehand. We could just explain to them once we returned. Maybe I should've left a note or something? It was too late. Right now I had to focus on our mission.

     "I think we lost them," Ava said, stopping, doubling over and struggling to breathe.

     I stopped beside her and sat on the middle of the road, resting while my heart slowed to a normal beat.

     Ava handed a bottle filled with water to me. I grabbed it and took heavy gulps, my throat feeling better.

     "That was insane," I finally said.

     Ava smiled. "Yup. Just wait till this is over. Imagine telling this to everyone else."

     "I'm sure they'll be more worried about us than anything else."

     She shrugged. "They'll get over it."

     "What if they wonder where we'd gone, or why we left? What if we don't make it back?"

     "We can't think like that right now. But to answer you, they'd probably ask Zev and he'd explain what happened to your mum, Robert and Mason. They can put two and two together."

     "Yeah, I guess so."

     Ava came and sat beside me, staring forward at the road ahead of us. A few cars were neatly parked on the sides as if patiently waiting for their owners that would never come. The road was empty and the peace that came with it was refreshing.

     "It's getting dark," Ava said. "Should we find some place to sleep?"

     I nodded. "Where do you wanna go?"

     She shrugged, looking around. "Well, I really don't want to go into any of those flats. They look really creepy," she said, pointing at them. She was right, but that might've just been the dark playing tricks.

     "How about one of the cars?" I offered.

     "That should work." She hastily got to her feet and bounded to the closest car.

     "Wait," I called after her, getting up and following. She slowed as I caught up. "We need to check for zeds."

     She nodded, getting her pistol out.

     "You should use your dagger. Remember what Joey said?"

     "Oh, yeah. For the up-close-and-personal ones, we should use blades. Save the ammo," she said as she tucked her pistol away and grabbed a knife out of my pocket. She must've left hers in her bag.

     When we arrived at the car, we noticed it was slightly dark inside. Ava's hand was shaking so I took it upon myself to gently tap on the window, loud enough for anything inside to be able to hear it. No zeds popped up to greet us so we tried the doors. Luckily, they were unlocked, the keys in the ignition, too. What a find. If only either of us knew how to drive.