"Go!" my dad screamed, "Keep going!"
I held on to my mom's hand as the four of us sprinted down the street. The herd behind us was dangerously close and walkers were popping out from everywhere around us. My heart was pounding in my chest and my head was ringing. I felt nothing but hot blood pumping through my body. I couldn't think.
"Daddy!" Tommy cried as he tripped and fell to the ground in front of us. My dad scooped him up in an instant and kept on running. We made a turn and stopped dead in our tracks at another smaller group of walkers blocking our path.
"Take the kids and get to the car," he quickly handed Tommy over to my mom, "I'll distract them. Just get out of here."
"Gregory don't, we stick together, always," my mom protested as my dad ran towards the smaller group. He unsheathed his hunting knife and began cutting the dead down.
"Don't leave daddy," Tommy begged.
"I love you all so much, now go!" he shouted, pointing down a side street with one hand and holding a walker at bay with the other, "meet me at the farm!"
"This isn't the end," my mom promised him. She pushed me towards the side street and, with tears in her eyes, began to run. Tommy cried in her arms and reached out to his dad longingly as he was carried away. I looked over my shoulder at my dad fighting. He pulled out his gun and began firing into the large herd as it approached him.
"I'll find you I promise!" He called to us as he disappeared into the distance, running from walkers while diverting them from us. "I promise!"
Why didn't I say anything then? Why did I just watch my dad disappear without saying anything to him? I wanted to tell him how brave he was and how much I loved him. I wanted him to know that I always looked at him as a superhero. There was so much I had to say but it had happened so fast. But as the words finally made their way to my lips I was speaking them to no one.
"I love you too," I whispered, tears falling as my dad's voice faded away. All I could hear now were the moans of the dead.
"Mommy they're still after us!" Tommy wept as he saw walkers begin to turn and follow us down the side road.
"We'll be okay," my mom reassured him. The fear in her eyes told me that she didn't believe the words as she said them. We made a turn and my heart sank at the sight of a dead end. A tall brick wall stood in front of us and we were closing in at the sides by buildings.
"We're trapped," I cried, looking around in a frenzy for something we could use, "we gotta get out of here, we gotta find dad. He's gonna be waiting for us! We gotta-"
"Mel come on!" my mom commanded, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me the side, "we're going through that window."
"It's too high, there's nothing here," I stammered on. I could feel my body going rigid and my mind was blank. I watched the walkers turn the corner and the panic continued to take me over.
"I'm gonna boost you both up, come on Tommy," she lifted my little brother onto her shoulders. "That's my boy," she told him as he stood up on her shoulders. He groaned as he pulled himself up and over the windowsill.
"Mel, now you come on," my mom bent so I could climb on to her. I looked up at my brother in the window and took in the distance I would climb. I realized there was no way I'd be able to lift my mom up once I was up there. I wasn't strong enough to pull her weight up on my own. I knew that I should've been the one to boost her up but I didn't do that. I climbed on to her and pulled myself through the window. Once I was safely inside I leaned my upper body out and extended my arms to my mom. She grasped on tight with both hands and I pulled her with all the strength I could muster.
"Come on mom," I groaned, as I continued to pull. I felt Tommy wrap his arms around my legs to anchor me. I knew as I pulled that it was pointless. I might as well have been trying to lift a car. My mom hadn't moved from the ground and there was nothing else I could do but continue to pull on her. I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my jaw as I pulled until it felt like my arms were gonna rip out.
"Mel baby," my mom whispered in that soft voice of hers. I opened my eyes and looked down at her. My mom looked so calm. The fear had drained from her. In that moment, as I looked into her gentle expression I realized that my mom had never feared for herself. Now that my brother and I were safe, she had nothing to fear. "It's okay my love, it's okay."
"Mom don't!"
She let go of my hands and closed her eyes.
"MOM!"
Then the herd was on her. They tore her apart and consumed everything she was. She never screamed. All I could do was watch from the safety I didn't deserve.