"Wait, wait up!" I tried to run on my twisted ankle but it was proving to be difficult. The thing had pulled it hard enough to nearly take it off of my body. It was still aching and hard to walk on.
The man was way ahead and had told me several times to hurry. I had failed to catch up.
"Come on, other wise you are out here for undead bait, mate." He turned round and breathed out a sigh when he saw how far behind I had become. "Do you want me to carry you?"
I pushed on, ignoring his question.
He walked up to me and picked me up in his arms, "Don't get used to it, okay? We still have a while to go."
He began walking -carrying me- at double the pace I had been going.
"Where are we going?" I asked as I kept watch for more of those things. None had seemed to appear yet, but we were taking a side walk, opposed to the main street.
"There is a small kindergarden around here that we are seeking shelter in." He informed me.
"Are there other people there?"
"Yes.."
The noise of snapping twigs, silenced him. He stooped and looked around. Then after a few seconds, he carried on walking but this time, at an even faster speed.
"There are seven of us in total, technically nine, because we now have you and Mona is expecting her baby soon."
There was silence between us for a while. He carried me out of the lane and through a back yard of a restaurant. From there, he continued carefully round a small supermarket. Every few minutes he would check around him for warnings.
"I'm going to have to put you down soon, I can't carry on holding you up." He warned.
"Can you please explain what the hell is going on? Now. I need answers. Where are my parents? Also what are those things?" I demanded.
He sighed and stopped round the back of two trash bins. Carefully, he let me down and indicated for me to follow him.
"Those 'things' are what we call the undead. They are our love ones who have risen. Everything has changed from the world you remember. Trust me." He stopped at a tall metal fence, which he lifted for me to climb under.
Suddenly a moaning could be heard. We turned to find two 'undeads' watching us as they walked closer.
"Get through the fence now!" The man hissed.
I did as he told me, bending down in the mud and rolled under the wire.
"Come on! Come on!" I shouted, shaking the fence. "Get over here!"
He ducked down to climb through, but the undeads were speeding up.
Reaching into my bag , I pulled out a small, heavy pistol. Trying to breath out steadily, I aimed it at the undead's neck. Missing my point, the bullet spun into it's stomach. It carried on walking, this time jumping onto the fence. He dropped on the man and let out a roar. Trying the best I could, I pushed back down on the pistol's trigger, hoping I would not hit the man. They both screamed as the bullet shot through the undead's head, leaving him lifeless. The second was creeping up quick; knowing he had little time, the guy pushed himself further under the wire fence and managed to get onto the other side.
When I helped pull him up, I noticed his shoulder was covered with blood.
"Is that your's or it's?" Indicating the bloody shoulder.
He flinched and collapsed on onto the floor.
"He didn't bite me. He didn't bite me. He didn't bite..." The guy kept repeating it over and over, as he lay of the grassy bank.
Getting down beside him, I tried to reassure him that they were safe.
The undead was shaking the wire fence in anger, he growled and spat hungrily.
"Come on we have to get out of here." I told him, pulling his body up and resting his arm on my shoulder. He was limp and faint-looking; I bit down on my gum, in frustration. What if he doesn't survive? Bleeds out?
I shifted him and put my arms around him, stabilising his weight. "Come on, show me where to go."
Want to find out what happens next? 'Empty Towns' is now up. Thank you for reading!