My name is Hope Archer. I am sixteen years old, and I am an only child. I have no parents, or family. I am a survivor.
For two years now, I have been running for my life. There use to be more of us, but they weren't strong enough. Being alone in a Zombie Apocalypse is crazy. I have been on my own for a few months now. I've almost been affected quite a few times. I have not seen a single human since my last partner snuck off trying to be "the hero" and was attacked. His name was Bruce Rodger. We had been the best of friends. Ever since kindergarten we were inseparable, then one morning, something inside of Bruce lit up. He was focused only on defeating the zombies, not on surviving. We had made a promise that no matter what happens we would protect each other till the end of time. Then he went into "Hero" mode. He tried to escape and try to defeat the zombies by himself, but I always held him back. He would get so angry at me and said that I was taking all the "glory". One morning, I woke up, and he was gone. I later found him with a wave of zombies. I was devastated. Now I truly was alone.
' I wonder if there are any zombies here.' I thought. I needed more supplies, so I'm on my way to Academy Sports for some bows, arrows, guns, and sports wear. I have not encountered any zombies yet, which is a good thing.' I wish I could use a flashlight right about now.' I thought. I have to travel by night and rest during the day so the zombies won't discover me. They can still smell me, but during the day they can see me as well. I silently slipped through the streets coming across the Harmony Science Academy school. What once was such a lively place, now a wasteland. I wonder if any students had any projects here that I can use to stay alive. I walked inside the elementary building, and everything is torn down. The walls red and yellow walls were covered with dry blood, desks and chairs were thrown out of the classrooms. The only thing that was left unruined was a picture frame of a kindergarten class, possibly the first class. The children's faces were super happy. The gleaming looks in their innocent eyes would make anyone care for them. I'm walking around before I realize there are noises coming from the hallway next to what I think was the girls bathroom. I turned around and saw a little girl, no more than eight years old. The only thing was, I don't think she was alive. She moaned and mumble things I couldn't understand. I saw she had auburn hair that was stained with blood, her face was white with blood stains coming from her mouth. She was tall and really thin, she wasn't all that fast either. She was walking towards me with arms stretched out, but I wasn't really scared, I guess she really wasn't a threat. I pulled out my gun, ready to shoot her, when coming from behind me was a crowd of zombies. I spun around and saw them. There were about at least twenty of them. All of them hungry for my flesh. "I'm going to die today, aren't I?" I whispered to myself. I tried to fight off as many as I could, but there was just too many of them. I started to run, run as fast as my legs could carry me. It felt like I was flying, until I tripped on a chair that was thrown out of the classroom.
I was a goner for sure. I was waiting for my life to end, but nothing happened. I looked up to see a figure shadowing me. I tried to get up, but only to fall back down. My leg was burning with pain. I pulled my leg to my chest. There was a long cut running up my lower leg, and it looked bad to me, but I needed to get out of there as soon as possible. I knew that that wasn't going to be easy. I looked back up at the shadow figure. That's when I realized it had been yelling at me for a while now. I get to my feet, and the figure grabs my arm and pulls me out of the building. When we get out of the building we don't stop running until we get to an old abandoned house just outside of the city. We go inside and the figure locks up all the doors and windows. I sat on the floor just looking around. 'I probably shouldn't be sitting down' I thought. The figure turns around and I see that it is a boy. Well not a boy, but also not a man. I would say he was about seventeen years old. Maybe eighteen. He was tall, had light brown hair, and his eyes were blue-green was wearing a black and red jacket with some dark blue jeans. He turns around and walks up to me. " Are you okay?" he asked. I nodded and replied, " Yes, all I have is a cut, but I'm alright. It's no big deal." He bends down next to me and looks me in the eyes. "Where is that cut." His voice was deep. It sounded like the rumble of thunder during a storm. It scared me a little, but also made me feel safe. "My leg." He moved to my leg and examined my cut. "Are you sure you're alright? It is pretty deep." He was right, I was in a lot of pain, but I didn't want him to know I was weak. "Um…. no not really. It hurts a lot." He got up and went to some room. I stayed on the floor, not really sure of what to do. A few minutes later, he came back with a first aid kit. "It doesn't look like you need 's just clean it and bandage it up." He then took out some anti peroxide, and dabbed it on a cotton ball, wiping it on my cut. It burned like crazy. "OW!" I screamed. He didn't say anything in response to my scream. I then realized I don't know his name. " I am Hope Archer, and you are?"
He looked me in the eyes again, and said to me "Tyler. Tyler is all I can give you." "Do you have a last name?" I asked. "I said, "That is all I can give you,"for now." he said with a smirk. That really puzzled me. "Why can't you tell me? I mean, we probably the only the only people in the whole entire world, and you won't tell me?" I stated back. He got up and pulled me to my feet. "I said, 'yet' didn't I" he replied. He had a really good point there. I frowned and turned my head to the side. Then I realized, I have no idea where I am. I tried walking around, but my leg hurt a lot. I honestly have no idea how I was able to run all the way here, maybe I ignored it so I could run for my life. I don't know. I sat back down, not wanting to hurt myself any longer. This wound would probably be the death of me. I guess Tyler saw me sit back down, because he picked me up and took me to some room.
When we got in, there was a torn up couch. He gently placed me on it, trying his best to make me comfortable. As soon as he finished he stood back up.. "Are you hungry?" Tyler asked. I looked at him and nodded. I honestly haven't eaten since the day before yesterday. He then left the room, so I was left to myself. I took the time to observe my surroundings. The walls had wallpaper peeling, making it look like it came straight out of a horror movie. The couch was old, but still comfortable to sit on. There was a window on the back end of the room with tattered curtains hanging from it.
Tyler came back with some food on a tray. It wasn't a nice tray, but you get the picture. There also was a lot of food on there like a few vegetables, some water, and some fruits. It made me wonder where he got all that food from. "I hope you like vegetables, because that's all we are going to have for a long while." he said with a chuckle. I noticed he had a beautiful crooked smile. Wait what am I thinking? I couldn't be falling for this guy, can I? No. That can't be right. I've only just met him! It's just that this is the first time I've seen a guy in a few months. Yeah. That's it. I guess he noticed I was thinking because he was giving me a "what's wrong?" look. I replied "Don't worry everything is fine!" I forced a smile and closed my eyes. Why did I do that? Something is going on. I just hope it wears off soon.
We eat our food and a few hours later, we hit the hay. Since we decided that we sleep in the same room just incase we needed to make a quick getaway, I insisted that I sleep on the floor, but Tyler made me take the couch. He said that he would sleep on the floor because I have an injury, I'm a girl, and that he always sleeps on the floor anyways. That was last part a total lie. We said goodnight to each other and I drifted off to sleep.
I stood there. Alone. I can't seem to move. I feel something digging into my arm. I use all power in my strength to turn my head over. I look and gasp, I have been bitten by a zombie. It makes it's way up my body, almost nearing my head. I can hear Tyler screaming in the background. I can't clearly make out what he's saying. "I -. I'll save you!" he screamed.
Then I woke up. I was sweating like crazy. Tyler was next to me with a worried look on his face. I think I was screaming. Oh no. I was screaming. "Was I screaming?" I asked a little too worried. "No. But you were saying stuff and getting louder by the second." he replied. "Hope, are you okay?" Tyler asked. I looked at him with a amazed face. "What?" he asked. "Nothing. It's just that you never used my name before." I answered. "So? Neither have you. And we did just meet yesterday." he shot back. He had a good point. I got up and tried to walk. I think that the wound was already healing, I was just soar. I yelped in pain. "Be careful!" Tyler raced to my side to catch me if I fell. I felt my face go red. I guess this is what it feels like to blush, I never blushed before. "Thank you." was all I could make out. "Thank you for what?" he asked. "For coming to my aid when I was about to become zombie food, giving me a place to stay, and for worrying about me." I replied. He smiled and said, "Well, we are the last two people on the planet. We have to look out for each other." I am so glad I have someone to take care of me. I want to hug him so bad, but what if he doesn't want to? I don't want to make him uncomfortable. Then all of a sudden, he threw his arms around my waist. This shocked me a little, but I wrapped my arms around him as well, thankful that my wish was granted. We hugged for what seemed like forever because Tyler got up and apologized. I told him it was alright and apologized too. He said it was alright and we looked at each other, then looked away. What is going on? Why can't we look at each other? I don't understand what is going on! Whatever it is, I hope I will figure it out. In the meantime, we have to find a way to defeat the zombies. But how?
I then noticed that Tyler had already got up and was walking out the door. "So, what are you going to do today?" I asked. He turned around with a face that looked like he didn't know who I was referring to."I need to go get some supplies from Academy, so I need you to stay here, okay?" I was a little disappointed that I had to stay here. Two reasons, one being I wanted to walk around, and the other being that I did not want to stay alone. I did not disobey his orders, because I did not want to get kicked out and get attacked by zombies.
He left and I was left on my own. Tyler said I would be a alone for about an hour to a few hours. Well, that makes me feel a whole lot better. I decided to walk around to explore for a while, but then as soon as I rose from the couch, I was brought back down. 'Okay. Scratch that off my list. What else is there to do?' I wondered. Before I knew it, I was counting how many strands of hair I have. A few hours later and I was on strand number one hundred and thirty two, Tyler walked in. I hadn't noticed he had walked in because he made me jump at the sound of his voice. "What are you doing?" he asked. I spun my head around and sighed in relief, seeing it was only Tyler. "Counting all the strands of hair I have." I replied. "Why?" he asked. "Because I was bored as heck and I can't walk around anywhere." I replied. "So how many do you have?" he asked. "I don't know, I stopped at one hundred and thirty two when you walked in." I said.
"Well that sounds like fun, but while you were doing that, I grabbed us some stuff." he exclaimed. He grabbed something from a back that was strapped around his chest, and showed me a sports jacket. It was all black, with zipper running down the front. It was really plain, but I didn't mind that. " Thanks." I told him as I took the jacket from him. "Sorry, I don't know if it's your size. I kind of just made assumptions." he explained. I brought the jacket to my shoulders, and slipped my arms through the sleeves. It fit perfectly, but I was probably going to need a new one soon, because I was still growing. At least it fit now, my other one was getting worn out. "It fits just fine, thanks Tyler." He smiled a really big smile, and for once looked relaxed. I guess because we had just met, he had to be serious, but now that we are getting used to each other, he's showing more of who he is. I smiled back and stared into his blue-green eyes. His eyes were beautiful, like the sea on a sunny afternoon.
That's when we heard the front door opening with a bang. We spun our heads around and heard moaning and thumping. Tyler was quick to act and lifted me into his arms. he started running towards a window. "Tyler, what are you doing?" I asked with freight. "what does it look like?" he said with a sarcastic tone in his voice. "I'm going to jump through the window." If he's holding me, and i'm in the front, I'm going to get cut by the glass. I know this should be the least of my worries, but if we do survive this, I'm going to take a longer time to recover. I hid my head in his chest as he jumped through the window. Surprisingly, I wasn't injured. We landed on the ground smoothly, the house was a one story, and he took off running. There were zombies, but they didn't notice us for some reason. Not wanting to know what had their attention, he continued running.
We eventually to a old little supply closet. We went inside, checking every corner for zombies, soon declaring it clear. We got settled inside, but it was so tight because of the gardening tools and Miracle Grow. It started to drizzle outside, but I don't remember any clouds in the sky.
After all that, we went to bed. Well, tried to figure out how we were going to sleep. The shack was so small, that we couldn't lie down without being next to each other. Do you know how weird that is? "Okay. You can lay down and I will find somewhere to sit tonight. Alright?" Tyler said. "No! you can lay down and I will sit. It's the least I can do since you saved my life twice already." I said. He came close to me, really close. It was so close that we were breathing each others exhales. He looked me in the eye, and said, "I will sit and you will lay down. You are the 'guest'." He said. No, he directed me. I felt some what threatened by his comment so I threw myself to floor. Literally. I hit the ground pretty hard. I also landed on my bad leg. Why am I so stupid? I covered my mouth and bit my hand to keep myself from screaming. It hurt bad, really bad. I also hurt my hand from biting it. 'How come I always hurt myself unintentionally?' I asked myself. Tyler stood where he was, and just looked at me with a shocked face. Here I am, practically crying, and there he is, just looking at me! 'Some gentleman!' I thought. I sat up and turned my back to him. I silently cried to myself because now I think my hand will now have some scars on it. I held my hand to myself and felt my tears fall on it. It stung my hands, but the tears just kept flowing. Without me noticing, Tyler came behind me, sat me down on his lap, and held me. I don't know how I missed that, but I did. "Hope, why did you do something as stupid as that?" Tyler asked. I just turned my head to his shoulder and cried my eyes out. I was so embarrassed for crying, but it wouldn't stop. I felt Tyler stroking the back of my head. It was really comforting know that he was there for me, even though he just looked at me when I fell. "Shh. You're alright Hope. You're gonna be alright. I promise I won't let anything hurt you. Ever." he whispered to me. I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him. "Thank you" I whispered in between sobs. His body was a little tense at first. I guess he was a little shocked that I hugged him. He eventually hugged me back. Then a few seconds after that, he tightened his grip. His gesture made me blush lightly. We hugged for what seemed like forever, and I started to get sleepy. I was on the verge of falling asleep in his arms. I yawned and he loosened his grip a little bit and looked at me. "I guess you're tired, huh?" he said while chuckling. I nodded and nearly fell back. He caught me and gently laid me down. He took his jacket off and and laid it on top of me. I was half asleep by now. Then he leaned a little too close to me and kissed my forehead. He mumbled something, but I couldn't hear. I fell asleep. Just my luck.
I woke up the next morning and found Tyler sitting on the sack of miracle grow. The memories of yesterday night flooded my mind. What did he say last night? I looked at him as he was sleeping. He looks so adorable! Oh my gosh, I really do like him! He started waking up. He pulled his head up and started blinking rapidly to get rid of the morning eyes. He looked at me and started laughing. "What's so funny?" I asked unamused. "You're hair is sticking up all over the place!" he said while laughing. "Huh?" I asked while feeling for my hair. My hair was going all over the place like a lion. How embarrassing this is! I tried to smooth down my hair, but it only worked a little. Tyler chuckled more. I frowned. "It's not funny! How did it get like this anyway?" I asked. "You slept with my jacket and in the middle of the night, you brought it to your head and slept it with it like that. It eventually wrapped around your arm. I thought it was the cutest thing I have seen in a long time." he said with a kind smile. I slightly blushed, but I looked away so he didn't see. I guess he thought I was looking at something because he asked me "What are you looking at?" I looked back at him and smiled. "Nothing just thinking!" I said with my eyes closed like they do in the mangas. I kept my eyes closed and smiling at him then I turned my head and opened my eyes. "You want to know what I admire about some people?" I asked because it was really awkward and I really needed to change the subject. "What do you admire?" he asked a little too curious. I pulled my legs up to my chest very careful and looked straight ahead. "People who will do anything to make others happy. No matter what the cost was. People who will risk their lives to make sure that one person has a good life. Not a lot of people use to do that, ya know?" I said. "I want to be like that. I don't want to be selfish. I want to stand up for someone. I wish I wasn't so selfish and greedy and rude, I wish I had good points instead of bad ones." I sighed. He cupped my face so that I would look at him. "You do have those good points. You are selfless, you are not greedy, and you are the kindest person I know." He said."I'm also the only person you know right know." I said sarcastically. "I hate that you think so badly of yourself. You have a beautiful soul and I don't want you to change it for the world." he said. I had tears in my eyes. I was so touched. I let the tears run down my face. No one, not even Bruce has ever told me that. "Thank you" I choked. "Thank you Tyler. Thank you so much." I said in between sobs. Great. Now I'm sobbing. Way to go Hope, way to go. He sat me on his lap and hugged me tightly. I hugged him back with all my might. I sobbed into his shoulder. He stroked my back in, I guess, to calm me. I did calm down within a few minutes. My face was all red and puffy. I had tears stains all over my cheeks. I think I looked really bad, and emphasize the really. I tried to hide my face from him, but he saw the ugliness that was on my face. "Hey, it's all right! No need to cry anymore." he said calmly. 'Well, I'm not crying anymore stupid!' I thought to myself.
He looked around to try and find something to clean the tear stains off of my cheeks. He gave up looking, and tore off a piece of his sleeve. He walked over to the door, opened it, and stepped outside. It was still raining outside. It was raining pretty hard actually. I followed him and looked up to the sky. I opened my mouth while he let his sleeve soak in the rain. I drank some rain water and turned back towards Tyler. He slowly walked up to me and cleaned off the remaining stains that the rain didn't get. It, I guess you can say, felt really special. My stomach had butterflies in them, and my legs turned to jelly. I swear, I was going to fall right then and there. I felt my heartbeat increase and the palms of my hands started to get sweaty. Well, it might just be rain water too. He soon finished and took my hand and led me back inside.
"Man Hope, why didn't you stay inside?" Tyler asked with a little anger in his voice. I looked up at him with confusion in my eyes. "Hope, you're soaking wet!" He yelled lifting my arm up to show how soaked it was. I looked at my arm. "So?" I asked. "So? You're going to catch a cold now!" he yelled. "Oh." was all that I could make out. I looked down. Now if I get sick, I will be the reason that we die because I would hold us back.
I sat on my legs and silently cried. I got up on my feet and turned my back to him. I tried to think of a way to dry myself off, but I couldn't think of anything. So I just decided to lay back down, and fall asleep.
