Zombietalia - Swissliech

A job. Simple as that, or really it should be. During an apocalypse, no job was easy anymore, not when you had to venture outside of the walls, not while there were dead corpses on the ground, killed by the survivors, and hoards of the undead. The virus had spread fast and there were few survivors left. There were a few safe havens, and Lilli lived in the largest of them, safe with her Big Brother and new friends.

Her task? Search the safe haven nearby, all contact with them had been lost, and Lilli was the one to go out to search. She was 18 and old enough to take care of herself.

Armed with a gun and ammunition, she slipped out of the gates. Her coat kept her warm in the morning air, the earlier she left the better, the more day light she had to travel, the better it was for her. Traveling in the dark was dangerous, especially not being able to see where the undead were coming from.

Of course, she didn't tell Basch she was leaving, if she had, he would never let her go. He was her only family left, and she was fairly sure she was his. She had told Mattie, however, that she was leaving, and needed him to take care of her cabin til she returned. She asked him not to tell Basch, hoping he would keep quiet about her little job.

Entering the woods, she shivered and held her coat closer to herself to keep warm, looking up occasionally to the sky.

'Must keep walking. Don't stop. Or THEY will get you. Must keep going.'

She kept her focus ahead of her, intent on reaching her goal.

Something snapped. Lilli's green eyes widened and she whirled around to find where the snapping came from. A zombie, maybe about 20 feet away from her. It hadn't noticed her yet. Breathing a silent sigh of relief, Lilli crept along the path, staying out of sight. She had only been walking for maybe... a couple of hours at most, and should be arriving at the other safe haven any moment now. Keeping her eyes out for the zombies, she continued to walk quietly, her hands trembling and holding her gun in case she needed it. The sun was directly above her. Noon.

Fear filled her belly, her reflexes prepared to shoot and fire at anything that showed itself. Glancing back, her eyes widened in fear. The zombie was gone, and with a quick look around her, she couldn't find the zombie. It was so slow, it couldn't have gotten far from her!

Her pace only quickened until she saw the safe haven ahead of her, but... There was something wrong. It looked... Abandoned. The gates were torn down. Lilli hesitantly stepped inside, looking around. It was like a miniature version of the haven she knew. Immediately, she held the gun out, ready to shoot if necessary.

After a full, thorough investigation of the area, it was determined that it was completely abandoned, not a living soul in sight. It was odd, not even a zombie.

"Weird. I should start going back now and make my report."

Just as she was about to turn around, she heard the moans and groans of a zombie, and quickly spinning around on her heels, she came face to face with it. It's skin was rotten and decayed. From the looks of it, it used to be... A male. It's hair was a blond color, from what patches she could see around the blood and dirt. His face was almost torn off, his left eye torn out and his eye lid was missing on his right, making it seem like his eye was about to come out completely. It limped as though one leg was injured, but more likely, he had lost use of that leg. The closer he got, the more sickened Lilli had become. She could smell his putrid scent, of rotten flesh, the scent of blood, feces, and worst of all, the scent of amonia.

It all made her head spin, not because of the scent but because she recognized the face structure, from what she could see. He was.. Her father, long gone and rotten. Tears built in her eyes as she screamed. Before he could even get any closer to her, she fired at him, shoting a bullet right through the brain. Her body became wracked in pain as she fell to her knees, setting the gun down and sobbing. It had been so long since she had last seen him, he was alive and having her mother, and now he was dead right in front of her. She killed the monster he had become.

"You didn't deserve this. No one did. I'm so sorry Vater."

Rising to her feet again, she knew she had to get out of there. The noise would attract unwanted attention, and it was starting to get dark.

Grabbing her gun, she hurried out of there, making her way back the way she had come. She was right, zombies were heading in that direction, towards all the noise.

She just barely managed to slip past them all. Halfway back towards the haven. It was midnight.

Another snap. The same spot she was in before when she last heard the snap. She didn't have time to turn and find out where it was coming from before she screamed in pain, a sharp stinging sensation entering her side. Looking down, she saw a zombie attached to her waist, tearing the skin open.

Pointing her gun down, she fired and killed the zombie, watching it's limp corpse fall to the ground and held her side in pain. It stung badly, the burning spreading through her system like a wild fire. Her eyes widened as the realization came to her. She had been bitten. And she would turn shortly.

Lights came on and she looked around quickly, spotting... Basch? And a search party! They had come to find her. Immediately, Basch started hurrying to her.

"STOP! Please, don't come near me!" She screamed, still holding her side.

Basch stopped in his tracks, taking a glance to her side, then her face, his eyes widening in fear. "No..!"

"I'm.." Her voice choked up in her throat, almost refusing to speak those words. "I'm infected."

She had no more strength to hold her own weight, the burning sensation was sapping her of her strength. He hurried to her side, gun in hand, on his knees beside her and pulling her onto his lap.

"Big Brother, I... I don't want to die like this." She whimpered, her voice quiverring. "I wanted to survive..."

He held onto her, trying to quiet her. "I know, Lilli. I know."

Her eyes closed, a tear falling down her face. "I want... You to shoot me. Please, before I become one of those things."

"It's ok, Lilli. Just... Just go to sleep now. And when you wake up, everything will be alright. The sky will be blue, the grass will be green.. People will be happy and no longer suffering. It will be over." Basch tried his best to sooth his sister before.. He had to end her life.

"I hope so, Big Brother." She whispered, losing energy to speak. "I'll wait for you, Big Brother. I love you."

Her skin was becoming pale, and Basch laid her down on the grass, pointing his gun to her forehead. His eyes were tearing up, tears escaping when his eyes closed, his finger pulling the trigger.

...

She was gone. She didn't have to suffer and become one of those things. Basch was alone once again, his little sister gone. Forever.