When I first met him

The boy was running through the woods, running without a pause, probably fleeing from a herd of lurkers. There have been so many lately. The boy, or should I say man, because he seemed to be around twenty years old, was carrying a rifle. Approaching him would not be the cleverest idea. From high up in my tree I had a perfect view over a large part of the woods. This way I didn't have to worry about any lurkers sneaking up on me.

Not making a sound I walked over to the next large branch of my tree in order to follow the running man with my eyes. Near that old shed he stopped. He looked around, and his eyes almost met mine. I climbed up a bit higher and hid between the canopy layers of my tree. When I dared lower myself I saw he had entered the shed and was now trying to keep the lurkers, who were desperately trying to burst open the old rotten door, out. There were just three of them...

I could easily take them out. I hesitated. I knew nothing of the guy. What if he'd just shoot me on sight like any random asshole would do nowadays? I clenched my dagger in my hand. I could just hide if he'd come out. Helping a stranger was risky during the apocalypse, but like my mother always used to say, we are on this planet for one reason, to help each other. The lurkers seemed to have had a different opinion on that when they ripped her apart.

Surviving had been tough since I left my group. Staying was too dangerous. Everyone had been going insane, some had even suggested eating the least fit people in order to survive. That crossed my boundary and I had quietly left that very night.

How long ago did it happen? I completely lost my sense of time. It could have been days, weeks maybe even months. I had no idea. If only I knew what time it was…

I made up my mind. Helping a stranger wasn't going to help me in any way. I could get killed instead. But just as I wanted to jump over to another tree, and forget this guy ever existed I heard him scream. The lurkers pushed the door open and started limping towards him. The guy screamed once more. I couldn't leave him like this. He desperately held on to his rifle and tried to knock the nearest lurker out with it.

'Just shoot.' I whispered.

I couldn't let these things kill him I had to help. Leaving him like this would make me no better then a lurker.

I quietly jumped out of the tree and approached the old shed. I kneeled down, hid behind a big tree trunk and picked up a rock next to my feet. I threw the rock against the shed's doors in an attempt to lure the lurkers away from him, but the guy's screaming was so loud the rock didn't alert the lurkers, they didn't even realise it. I stood up and snuck behind the three walking corpses. When the guy saw me his eyes widened. With my left hand I grabbed one of the lurkers' T-shirt, and cut open his head. Gross brownish blood splattered on my face and clothes, I always hated this part. The other two walkers now turned around and came towards me. My grip around the dagger was so firm my knuckles were probably white. I dashed forward, holding the dagger, not like a sword, but with the blade beneath my wrist so that I could quickly pull it out of my lurker victims if I had to.

I found just the right place on its neck and cut off the next ones head. I wasn't sure whether I killed it or not so I turned around. The body was lying there, but the head was still viscously trying to somehow bite me in my ankle. I kicked it away. Of course… destroy the brain first. Couldn't these goddamn lurkers give me a break?

It turned out they couldn't because the last lurker now jumped on top of me, I had completely forgotten about that one. This one used to be a rather fat man, and me, and my sack of bones I called a body, were being flattened underneath. What ones used to be his head was too close to my face, he tried to bite my nose and I just managed to avoid his bloody jaw. This was it. I thought. This was what I got in return for helping a stranger. I was going to die. This random lurker was going to bite my face off and there was nothing I could do…

I felt something trying to violently take the dagger from my hand. Because of my old reflexes I clenched to it as if it could save my life, even though I knew it wouldn't. Not in this situation. But if I was to die here and now, I would with the closest thing I had left to a friend in my hand. The lurker kept trying to sink its teeth into my face.

'Please!' I suddenly heard a low voice yelp in frustration. 'I'm trying to help you!'

What did he mean, wasn't I trying to help him?

'Let go!' he screamed. ' For god's sake let go of your knife!'

I finally understood. I forced my fist to open and he snatched the dagger out of my hand. With a last gargle the lurkers' head fell on my chest. The man helped me by pushing the heavy body of me.

I was shaking all over. He kneeled down and pulled the dagger out of the now forever lifeless body at me feet. When he handed it to me he looked catious.

'Thanks.' He said as he looked at me with his light grey eyes. 'I'm Nick.'

'Cammie.' I managed to whisper in between the gasping, and I smiled. 'It's a dagger by the way.'